You Are My World Now
by ANGSWIN
Summary: Hermione Granger loses everything in the final battle. When she tries to apparate to escape, an accident occurs, and she finds herself on the TARDIS with the Ninth Doctor. Can they both find happiness and love again with someone else who also knows what it is like to lose their whole world?...*Docmione*
1. An Unlikely Meeting

_Author's Notes: I think that I should point out that in the Whoverse, my OTP is definitely Nine & Rose. However, my muse latched onto this particular idea and just wouldn't let go until I wrote about it. I believe that the Nine & Hermione pairing makes a lot of sense in the context of this alternate universe, though. In fact, they really are quite perfect for each other. :)_

 _You should probably also recognize snippets of dialogue from the first season of the new "Doctor Who." Yes, I shamelessly stole them and used them for my own purposes. ;)_

* * *

 **An Unlikely Meeting**

The battle raged around Hermione all day and through half the night. Flashes of green and red, with the occasional purple or blue lit up the sky. One by one her friends, professors, and fellow Order members fell around her. Her heart broke each time she looked up and one more beloved face was gone, one more head of red hair was on the ground, or one more familiar voice cried out for the last time. Soon, too soon, she and Harry were the only ones left. They were exhausted, injured, covered in blood and muck, and devastated with grief. However, together they fought on. Back to back, they threw spells, curses, and basically anything and everything they knew.

The battle raged around Hermione all day and through half the night. Flashes of green and red, with the occasional purple or blue lit up the sky. One by one her friends, professors, and fellow Order members fell around her. Her heart broke each time she looked up and one more beloved face was gone, one more head of red hair was on the ground, or one more familiar voice cried out for the last time. Soon, too soon, she and Harry were the only ones left. They were exhausted, injured, covered in blood and muck, and devastated with grief. However, together they fought on. Back to back, they threw spells, curses, and basically anything and everything they knew.

All too soon it was time for Harry to fulfill the prophecy and face off with Voldemort himself. He was not the victor, and therefore, Hermione found herself alone, friendless, and surrounded by the enemy. She did the only thing she could at that moment. She took out the Death Eaters nearest to her…and then she ran. She had to find a place to rest and plan her next move. Knowing that the castle was compromised, she ran for the only place where she could possibly hide long enough to avoid capture – the Forbidden Forest. She knew after just a moment, though, that she wasn't going to make it. At least four Death Eaters, and possibly more, were on her tail. She couldn't let them take her alive and she knew she couldn't take out all of them at once. Therefore, she prepared to apparate as soon as she came to a clearing. Unfortunately, just as she started the process, she was hit by a spell from each side. She couldn't tell for sure but she thought she saw all four major spell colors hit her at once. Then, just before she lost consciousness, she disappeared from view.

* * *

The Doctor had never planned to come back to the little insignificant planet, even though he had been quite fond of it and its inhabitants in the past. However, he found that he had somehow been drawn there, anyway – just in time to battle the alien trying to take over the world. Now he stood there, in the underground system, struggling in the grasp of his plastic captors while the insane pile of animated goo in the giant vat in front of him shouted threats.

The last thing he wanted to do was to take another life, so he had given it a choice, a chance to leave this planet in peace, and it had declined. Now he just needed to find a way to tip in his anti-plastic and get out of there before the fireworks started. It was at times like these, he thought, that a companion would come in handy. It would be nice if there was someone else, someone who could possibly come swinging in on one of those chains, perhaps, and knock the dummy holding the anti-plastic over into the vat. He had decided not to take any more companions, however. He couldn't bear to grow close to anyone again. He didn't deserve to, anyway, not after what he had done. Therefore, if he was going to escape this situation, then it would have to be all up to him. He sighed, knowing that the Nestene Consciousness was not listening to his rational argument. Unfortunately, that meant that he would have to do things the hard way, and finish it off permanently.

Once he had made his decision, he moved quickly, using his Venusian Aikido moves to break loose from one of the plastic mannequins. He then used that one to push the other one into the vat. As they both tumbled down, along with the anti-plastic, he made his way back up to the blue Police Box on the higher level. It was time to get out of there before the whole place blew up. Just as the TARDIS dematerialized and sent them into the Vortex, however, something very unusual happened. A woman appeared out of nowhere and collapsed, unconscious, in a heap on the grating of the console room.

The Doctor rushed over to the mysterious visitor. He gently turned her over to reveal a young human woman of about twenty years of age, he guessed. The Time Lord was happy to note that even though she was unconscious, she was definitely alive. Her pulse was relatively strong, but she appeared exhausted, dehydrated, and malnourished - as if she had been living on the run or had been held in captivity for a while - in addition to the obvious fighting in which she had been recently involved. From the look of her clothing and injuries, she had been attacked, but had fought back hard! The Doctor felt an irrational surge of pride that the unknown woman had defended herself. He then checked her over again for any other visual clues as to her identity. He noticed that her filthy, ripped clothing was consistent with the planet and time period that he had just left, but something seemed unusual about her. She just _felt_ different than any other human that he had ever met. The alien did not know the how or the why, but he was determined to find out. He sent out a mental query to his ship, but the TARDIS only sent back a mental image of the sick bay.

 _Right,_ he thought. _We can't do anything else while we are in the Vortex anyway, so we may as well get her cleaned up and check out her injuries_. Hopefully, she could tell him more about who she was and how she got there when she regained consciousness. Therefore, he bent down to pick her up and noticed how alarmingly light she felt in his arms. She moaned softly as he carried her and he found that his arms tightened around her automatically. He could not help but to wonder about that unexpected reaction to the strange girl as he strode down the corridor to the infirmary. In his preoccupation, however, he completely failed to notice the oddly shaped and carved wooden stick that she had left behind her on the metal grating of the floor.


	2. Surprising Introductions

The first thing that Hermione noticed when she regained consciousness was that she seemed to be in a high tech infirmary of some sort. However, she was apparently the only patient because there was only one bed in the space. Her new location seemed to suggest that somehow she had successfully apparated despite those spells that she remembered had struck her at the last minute. At any rate, it seemed unlikely that she had been captured because it was next to impossible to believe that Death Eaters would have put her in such a clean and comfortable place. That thought relieved her enough that when the next thing that caught her attention was the fact that someone had removed her clothes and that she was in her underwear, she did not freak out as much as she could have. Fortunately, she had also noticed that she had been cleaned up a bit and that there was a blanket covering her. The knowledge that someone had tried to take care of her helped to reassure her, as well...at least until she realized that she was not alone in the room.

"Hello there!" came a cheerful English voice with a Northern edge to it. She quickly turned her head to the side to see a man leaning casually against the wall. He was tall with short cropped dark hair, rather prominent ears and nose, and piercing blue eyes. He was not classically handsome, but his looks were rather striking - especially since he was dressed completely in black from his leather jacket down to his boots. The fashion statement seemed rather incongruous with the pristine white infirmary environment. However, Hermione noted that the overall look was quite attractive. As she focused back on his face, she also noted that he was older than her - probably about Remus's age. At that thought, all of her observations crashed to a stop as her eyes filled up with tears as the memories rushed back. She had seen him fall. Remus was gone. They were all gone. The young women broke down then and cried out in grief and anguish.

…

The Doctor had been feeling strangely protective of the mysterious girl and had kept a close eye on her in the infirmary. Consequently, he noticed the instant her eyes fluttered open. He stood back for a moment, however, in order to watch her reaction. He looked on approvingly as she visually assessed her surroundings first before she checked her physical condition. He also noted how she relaxed slightly when she realized that she was in no immediate danger...but that she never let her guard down completely. Those little actions directly substantiated his suspicion that she was used to fighting for her life. It was then that he deemed it appropriate to call her attention to his presence so that she would not be frightened or worried when she finally realized that someone was in the room with her. Then he watched her as she assessed him, much as she had done with the room before. She did not seem to register him as a threat, either, and that pleased him greatly for some reason.

Therefore, he was not prepared for the tears when they came – especially when she cried out "They're all gone!" It was then that he realized that she was alone. Something resonated inside of him at the thought because he knew that type of grief all too well. His hearts went out to her and without even stopping to think, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms to comfort her. He did not say anything, though. He just held her as the sobs racked her thin frame. With her closeness, he was hit again with that sense of the _extraordinary._ She was definitely human, the medical scans had confirmed that, but his heightened senses kept registering something unusual – not unpleasant or bad – just very _different_ about her. This woman had a _spark_ to her that he had never really seen before. However, right now she was just hurting and he found that he wanted to help her in any way that he could.

…

The tears stopped as quickly as they began as Hermione came back to her senses and realized that the strange man was holding her as she cried. She pulled back from him slightly, and looked him straight in the eyes. When blue met golden brown, he finally realized that he was holding an attractive and almost naked woman – and for the first time in centuries, his hearts stuttered. However, he forced that thought aside in order to look back at her calmly. She needed to know that he was not a threat to her.

It must have worked because after a moment, the young woman visibly relaxed. For her part, Hermione hoped that her normally sharp instincts were still functioning correctly because, for some reason, she felt quite safe with the man - even though she got the distinct impression that he could be very dangerous if he needed to be. Other than that feeling, though, he looked quite ordinary. However, she knew better than most that looks could be deceiving and both her senses and magic told her that he was about as far from ordinary as possible. There was definitely something very _different_ and very _powerful_ about him. For one thing, she could have sworn that she had felt a double heartbeat as he held her. For another, he smelled like (and here she took another quick sniff to confirm it) _Time._ She had learned early on during her adventures with the Time Turner that time travel had a very distinct odor and this man _reeked_ of it. In fact, it seemed to be woven through his very essence. It was not an unpleasant sensation, though. In fact, it was actually overwhelmingly comfortable in a way - but who smelled like Time? She decided to be the bold Gryffindor that she was and come right out and ask.

 _"_ _Time!"_ she said aloud to the great surprise of the man who was still sitting on her bed, but had slid a bit away from her when she had stopped crying and started assessing him again. "Why do you smell like Time?"

When he did not answer right away because he was still staring at her in amazement, she finally realized what else she was missing. Where was her wand? Did she drop it when she was hit with those spells while apparating? She looked around the room hopefully, but when she still did not see it, she looked back at the man in front of her. Did he know who she was? Was he a wizard? That could explain the time smell to an extent, but this room had too much technology in it to be part of the wizarding world. Would she be breaking the Statute of Secrecy if she revealed her magic to call for her wand? It might be nearby, after all - especially since she didn't know exactly where she was. Maybe her first order of business should be to figure out her location and exactly who she was with. Was he an ally, enemy, or just someone who happened to be in the right place to stumble across her? Even though he still had not answered her first question, it was time to ask the important ones...and so she did.

"Who are you? What and where is this?" she continued as she met his eyes again and gestured to the room around them.

…

The Time Lord, however, just continued to stare at his guest in surprise and wonder. Who was this girl? How could she recognize the smell of Time? His hearts jumped at the possibilities - even while he sternly reminded himself that she was definitely human. He had established that fact already. He was positive that she was British, too, since her accent was from Southeastern England to be exact. He knew because England had always been one of his favorite places in the universe…and he had visited it…and its people…many times in many different bodies. What he did not know was what made her so different? He could not quite figure it out and he considered peeking into her mind for the answers. He decided against that drastic action for the time being, though - especially since he could always do it later as a last resort, if necessary. Therefore, he gathered his scattered thoughts back together as he decided to tell the truth and simply introduce himself.

"I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you," he finally replied with a manic grin to hide his uncertainty, "and this is the TARDIS. Care to tell me who you are and why...how...you… _dropped by_ …rather unexpectedly?"

Hermione eyed the man since she had a feeling that he was not telling her the whole truth. Plus, she was concerned by the _dropped by_ comment. Had she just apparated into wherever this was, then? She still did not know, so she ignored his question for the time being, until she received a clearer one for her own.

"The TARDIS? What is that?" she repeated, confused, and then she added another question as a second thought suddenly occurred to her. "Also, this may sound a bit strange, but are we still in Scotland...or did I make it to England?"

That last question caused him to look at her even more intensely. If she originated in Scotland, why would she possibly suspect that she was not still there? How was she attempting to travel to England? Did she know how she ended up on his ship in the first place? Why was she not more concerned about the strangeness of their situation? In fact, she was acting oddly calm now - as if this kind of thing happened to her all of the time. What did that mean? There were just too many questions and not enough answers. What if she was not as harmless as she seemed? The Doctor finally decided just to peek into her mind and see if her surface thoughts could help him to figure out what was going on. He would be in and out and she would never even know that he had there. At any rate, that was the plan but it did not turn out quite as well as he had hoped. In fact, he only managed to retrieve her name before she caught him and threw him out of her mind.

"Get out of my head!" she exclaimed in fury as soon as she felt that familiar tickle. She threw him out and slammed up her Occlumency walls. Statute of Secrecy be damned, she could not wait any longer, so she shouted out, " _Accio_ wand!" She hoped against hope that it was nearby. Therefore, she almost cried in relief when it zoomed into the room and landed in her hand. In a heartbeat, she was out of the bed and had the familiar weight in her hand pointed towards the strange man who called himself the Doctor – even though she was still clad in only her bra and knickers.

Far from acting angry or scared, however, the man seemed delighted! "Fantastic!" he exclaimed with a wide grin and a sparkle in his eye. "You're a witch!"


	3. Sentience

"That explains so much!" he said excitedly, just as he realized that he was facing a half-naked, furious, and magically powerful woman whose mental privacy he had just violated. His smile faltered slightly and he thought that now might be a really good time to apologize and explain. He held up his hands in the (almost) universal sign of surrender.

"Hermione Granger, please lower your wand. I apologize. I shouldn't have looked in your mind, but I wasn't getting the answers I needed. I didn't know if your secrets were dangerous. I have a lot of enemies and I needed to be sure. I was hoping to find out more, but I should have waited until you told me." Just then his grin came back. "Your response was fantastic by the way!" He met her eyes and she saw his own blue ones gleam with interest and excitement. "Again, I apologize, but it's just been a really strange encounter so far."

It was the gleam that decided her. She lowered her wand slightly, but still held it ready - just in case. "Tell me about it!" she exclaimed, a bit ruefully. "At least you aren't the one standing here in your underwear."

"Oh!" he murmured, and actually looked embarrassed for a moment as he realized just how _exposed_ she was. She got the feeling that he was not used to noticing the feelings of others and that he had not realized that she might be uncomfortable in such a state. Just then a light humming sound filled the room. "Yep! I agree, Old Girl," he said aloud while Hermione looked around in confusion. _Who was he talking to?_ she thought before he turned towards her again. "We will get you a room and let you get cleaned up and dressed. I think that you must have been through a lot today. Therefore, what do you say to a shower, clean clothes, and some food? Then we can talk. Does that sound agreeable to you?"

With these words, he plucked a dressing gown, which she was positive had not been there before, off of the bed. She accepted it without a word – even though she didn't think that it had been summoned with magic. After all, she had seen much stranger things in her life. He waited for her to put it on and then offered her his hand. She was a bit startled at the friendly gesture, but allowed her small hand to be enveloped in his larger one. The simple contact felt nice and very natural, and they just stood there and looked at each other for a minute. After a moment, the Doctor cleared his throat and then gestured towards the door. However, she noticed that he didn't relinquish her hand and, since she liked it, she decided not to mention it as he led her out of the infirmary. As they walked over the metal grating floors and down the corridor, she wondered just what kind of building they were in. She put the thought out of her mind, though, for the time being when he stopped at the first door that they encountered.

"This will be your room while you are with us," he said softly. "You should find everything that you need in there. Take your time and do what you need to do. When you are finished, just follow this corridor back out to the console room." He pointed out the direction with his free hand. "I will be waiting there for you." He received her quiet thanks with just a serious look before he relinquished her hand after a quick reassuring squeeze and gestured for her to go into the room.

He waited until she had shut the door behind her before he leaned his head against the door frame for a moment as he tried to regain his internal momentum. Something about that young woman had thrown him completely off balance. It was probably just because he had not had real company in such a long time, he rationalized. Therefore, he just shook his head and headed towards the console room in order to wait for his intriguing visitor. There was a new bounce in his step, though, that had not been present in quite a while. After all, it had been a long time since he had met a _magical_ being and he found that he was eager to hear her story.

...

Hermione eyed the comfortable room, in which she found herself, with pleasure. It was simply and tastefully decorated – much like a boutique hotel. The large bed in the middle of the room was almost irresistibly inviting, but she knew that she needed to clean up first. However, she became confused the more she looked around. It was not a magical room, but it was not muggle, either. There were no outlets, switches, etc. _How do things work? How do you turn the lights off and on?_ she then the lights turned off leaving her in darkness for just a heartbeat. Then they came right back on. _Did I do that?_ she thought to herself and she set out to test it. _Lights off_ , she thought, and they complied. "Lights on," she suggested out loud and they flicked back on immediately. "Lights at 50 percent, please _,_ " she whispered and the lights adjusted themselves. _So they are thought and voice controlled. That's interesting. That's neither magical nor muggle. So what is it?_

This thought was interrupted, though, when she found the well appointed bathroom and the thought of a hot shower overwhelmed everything else. She had not had a real bath or shower for a very long time and cleaning spells were only meant for short term purposes. It had been quite a while since she had felt really clean. Therefore, she wore a real smile as she stripped down to nothing and entered the spacious shower stall. Even through the delight, however, she noticed when the water temperature adjusted itself to what she considered to be perfect, when the shampoo and other shower necessities appeared on the shower shelf, and when a set of fluffy warm towels were waiting for her when she finished. All of that was odd, but not extremely concerning. It felt similar to House Elf magic, but not quite. Whatever it was, magic or otherwise, it seemed benevolent enough and she was determined not to worry about it. She would simply ask the Doctor about it when she saw him again.

Thinking about that enigmatic man, who could read minds and smelled of Time, she walked back into the bedroom, wrapped only in her towel, and wondered what she was going to wear. At that thought, the closet door opened on its own, displaying a rack full of perfectly sized clothing. "Thank you!" she said aloud politely and heard a pleased hum in her mind. Then Hermione grinned as the puzzle pieces clicked together! "Oh, you're alive! You're sentient!" she exclaimed to the room specifically and to the building in general. "The Doctor calls you _Old Girl_ , doesn't he?" She received a pleased affirmation directly in her mind again. "Telepathic, too, huh?" She was answered with another feeling of confirmation. "You know, I don't find this as weird as you might think since I actually lived in a sentient castle for the better part of six years. I'm Hermione, by the way, and you are…?" She left the question hanging, but was pleased when she received a definite answer delivered directly to her mind, _I am the_ _TARDIS._

Hermione continued to converse with the TARDIS while she dressed, and she realized with interest that her questions were answered mainly in feelings and pictures, rather than words. Hermione could also tell that even though she was quite fond of the man, the "Old Girl" was quite pleased to have someone to communicate with other than the Doctor. When Hermione was completely ready, she viewed the final product in the mirror. She thought that she looked much better cleaned up. Her hair was not quite as wild as it had been before. Plus, the simple jeans and a soft jumper (that didn't irritate the half-healed carving on her arm – especially since she had put a slight expansion charm on the inside of the sleeves in order to hide her wand, as well) fit nicely and looked good with a pair of boots that she also found in the closet. She then looked longingly at the bed, but thought that her host had probably waited for her long enough as it was. _I can always sleep later,_ she silently hoped. She spoke aloud, however, when she politely thanked the TARDIS for opening the door for her before she headed down the corridor in the direction that the Doctor had indicated earlier.

...

Meanwhile, the Doctor pondered the young woman on his ship. Where had she come from? She was human and British. However, she had not denied being a witch when he had named her as one. The problem was that the Doctor did not know of any magical societies on that little planet. Therefore, if his suspicions were correct, then she was not really from _this_ Earth. In fact, he doubted that she was from this universe, at all - especially since he really could not think of even one single planet where the inhabitants had real magic.

 _If that was the case, how did she get here, and how did she end up on the TARDIS in the first place?_ he wondered. Unfortunately, if she had accidentally crossed the Void from another universe, and another Earth, then he would not be able to take her back home. He just did not have that capability anymore - not without help from other Time Lords. What was he going to do with the fascinating little witch then? Based on her earlier reactions, he gathered that she had been fighting a war, was on the losing side, and was now all alone. She probably did not even have a home to go back to, anyway. That particular scenario was way too close to comfort for him, and brought back too many of his own bad memories of his own lonely situation. Therefore, he found himself fighting back his own tears when he heard the young woman approaching the console room.

He ceased his unhappy musings and turned toward the corridor so that he could see her when she arrived. He could not help but to smile when she walked in because she looked so much better than she had when she arrived. She was quite pretty, he thought, even though she was too thin. He had a feeling that that was a result of whatever situation had brought her to him, however, rather than her natural look. He had to force himself to look away from her fascinating hair, which had caught his attention because it almost seemed to have a life of its own, in order to bring his eyes back to her face. He wanted to see her reaction to the TARDIS.

He had expected her to be amazed, but he had not anticipated that she would stop in her tracks and exclaim in surprise, "This is a control room...We are on a ship...You're a ship!" This last statement was not addressed to him, though, and he was confused for a minute until he realized the TARDIS was humming with delight. The woman, Hermione, was talking to his ship and the Old Girl was responding!

"A sentient ship," Hermione muttered delightedly. "Well, that explains a lot, I guess." She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I don't know of anything like you in either the magical or muggle world, so I am guessing that you are not of this world." She fell silent for another moment while she pondered the implications of this idea. Then she placed a hand on the coral strut closest to her. "You're alien," she whispered to the ship - who responded in a pleased affirmative. Hermione then turned to catch the extremely surprised Doctor's eyes with her own before she walked over to stand directly in front of the stunned man. "That means you are probably alien, too… and if I combine that fact with the smell of Time…hmmm…I guess that means that you are a time traveling alien! In fact, I think that you are a time traveling alien with two hearts!"

Despite his respiratory bypass system, he found that he could barely breathe as he stared at her in surprise for a moment. "Yes…Is that alright?" he asked tersely, when he finally found his voice again. _Who exactly was this fascinating woman and how had she come to that very unlikely, but extremely accurate and specific, deduction so quickly?_

"Yeah, it most certainly is!" she answered enthusiastically and her eyes lit up as she smiled. He could not help but to return that look with a grin of his own.


	4. Mutual Shock

The Doctor looked at the young woman standing in front of him with a mixture of amazement and admiration. How long had it been since someone had surprised him this much? Hermione was obviously extremely intelligent. She had only been on his ship, conscious, for a couple of hours. However, she had already displayed her power, faced him down without fear, communicated with his ship and made friends with her, figured out that he was a time traveler, that he was not even from Earth - and she was still taking it all in stride!

That was just "Fantastic! Utterly fantastic!" he exclaimed as a wide grin appeared on his face. Their eyes met and she blushed a little bit at his praise. Three heart rates increased then, but before they could even process that occurrence, Hermione's overwhelming day finally caught up with her and her knees buckled. The Doctor's quick reflexes allowed him to catch her before she fell and he helped her over to the jumpseat. "How long has it been since you have eaten, Hermione?" he asked gently, with quite a lot of concern for her and reproach for himself. Why had he not addressed this issue before now?

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She felt like she would not be able to stop herself from crying soon, but she did not quite know why. She did not like feeling weak like this. She tried to answer the Doctor's question honestly, though. "I don't really know. A couple of days maybe…Before I got here, the battle went on all day and long after the sun went down. I don't think that I had anything before that. I am sorry. I just don't know. I'm just so tired now, and I am having trouble keeping my thoughts straight."

"I think that your body is going into shock, Hermione. You have been through too much, too soon." He bent down and scooped her up. "I am going to take you back to the infirmary and give you some supplements that you need to replenish your basic supplies. Then, you are going to sleep!" She wanted to protest being carried, but she actually did not know if she could walk on her own or not. Therefore, she just held on to him and let him handle it. She smiled as she definitely felt his double heartbeat this time when she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head on his shoulder for the short journey. She had to wonder, though, if his hearts always beat quite that fast. After a moment, they reached the now familiar infirmary and he laid her gently back on the bed. He then crossed over to the line of cabinets on the wall and rummaged through one briefly before he came back to show her the small flat rectangle on the palm of his hand.

"Here, place this under your tongue," he instructed. "It's called a Nutristrip. Humans began to use them as meal replacements during long space flights in the 51st century. They also help with hydration and to rebuild muscle, bone, and tissue loss. Plus, it will be easier on your stomach than solid food right now. I am glad that I had the foresight to snag those off of that annoying ex-Time agent that I ran into on Exaltis Six. They will come in handy for you now. While that is dissolving, I am going to give you a multivitamin hypospray. It will go directly into your bloodstream and start working immediately. That's good because you are obviously malnourished which means that your body hasn't been getting what it needs. That's why you are so weak. I think that you must have been running solely off of adrenaline and the force of your obviously strong will for a while now."

"A year on the run culminating in a battle to the death tends to have that effect, I think," she said matter-of-factly, albeit in a very tired and distant voice. She struggled to keep her eyes open while she spoke, though, because she really did not want to miss any of her host's fascinating explanations. However, it was obviously a losing battle and her voice was thick with exhaustion when she asked, "So… _Doctor_ is really more than your nickname, isn't it? Is it your profession, too?"

"Well, I really am a Jack of all Trades, but…yes…I do know quite a bit of medicine." His answer must have reassured her because she finally allowed herself to let go and she slipped into a sleep so deep that it was almost unconsciousness. It happened so quickly, though, that he had not even had a chance to give her the hypospray, yet. Therefore, he took it upon himself to roll up her sleeve and expose her forearm in order to expertly apply the vitamin solution. There was no way that he could not have anticipated what happened next, however. All of a sudden, the clear smooth skin on her arm seemed to flicker and then fade away leaving the most horrid, painful looking, and half-healed carving in its wake.

"Mudblood," read the Doctor aloud with absolute fury in his voice as he looked back up at the sleeping woman in concern before his eyes returned to the recently acquired wound on the arm that he now cradled gently in his hands. He realized that she must have used some kind of magical perception filter on it in order to keep it from drawing unwanted attention. It had worked, too - even against his superior senses - until it had been disrupted by the hypospray. _What has this extraordinary young woman gone through?_ he could not help but to wonder while his eyes wandered over her form as he noted her poor physical condition again. She mentioned a battle, being on the run, and now he knew that she had been tortured, as well. No wonder she had drawn her wand on him earlier! She probably expected him to attack her, as well.

Fury flowed through him at the thought; he was not known in parts of the universe as the "Oncoming Storm" for nothing, after all. Nevertheless, there was nothing to vent his anger on here, no enemy to destroy with it. Therefore, he needed to keep busy in order to keep those negative emotions from taking him over completely. Plus, he wanted to help Hermione, as well. With that in mind, he went back into the cabinet to find something with which to treat her arm while she was still asleep. After some searching, he finally found a salve that he could use on her half-healed wound to provide some immediate relief from the pain and swelling. Later, though, when she was awake and rested, he would suggest using the Dermal Regenerator on the area. It would help the arm to heal completely. Unfortunately, she would always carry a scar there – a reminder of her hardship. With that gloomy thought, he applied the salve as gently as he possibly could and then gave her a hypospray of pain reliever that would also hopefully help her to sleep peacefully.

The Doctor then decided that she would rest more comfortably in a real bed, so he carried her back to her room - which the TARDIS had kindly moved next to the infirmary for him. He smiled about the fact that the ship had already become so fond of the young woman during their short acquaintance. Of course, he had never known anyone to catch on to the nature of his ship quite so quickly, or to accept it so fully, either. In fact, quite a few of his past companions had never recognized her sentience, at all. Therefore, it made sense that the TARDIS would favor Hermione a bit. He was afraid that the young woman would need it, too, especially while she was healing.

He also knew from experience that she was suppressing her grief now over whatever had happened to her, but that it would probably overwhelm her soon. She would need some friends to help her through it all when that happened, and it looked like he and the TARDIS were going to have to be those friends. He continued to ponder the idea of friendship with the mysterious and intriguing young woman while he had carried her into her room and then laid her gently on her bed. He also took off her boots and pulled the covers up around her. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he gave in to an odd impulse to lean forward and place a kiss on her forehead.

He did not know where that sentiment had come from or why he felt so protective of Hermione – especially since they had just met. Maybe it was just because it felt nice to finally have some sort of connection with someone else besides his ship again. He decided not to examine that thought too closely and run the risk of opening his own barely scabbed-over pain, but he already knew that he would do whatever he could to help his guest. Therefore, he asked the TARDIS to let him know when she woke and then he exited the room quietly. In the meanwhile, he decided to spend the down time to complete some of the ever-necessary maintenance on his ship. Hopefully, that would help to keep his thoughts off of the fascinating, pretty, and young ( _way_ too young, he kept reminding himself) woman asleep down the corridor...and away from his own past, as well.


	5. Nightmares

A few hours later, the Doctor asked the ship if Hermione was still sleeping. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, he decided that he would go to bed for a few hours, as well - even though he did not usually require much sleep. At least that way he would be well rested for whatever would come next. One thing that his long life had taught him was that one should always expect the unexpected! For example, who would have thought that earlier in the day, an extremely intelligent and observant witch (who was probably from another universe) would mysteriously appear in the TARDIS?

Still musing, he went down the corridor to where his door normally stood alone. However, there was now another door adjacent to his. The Doctor knew without asking that the TARDIS had moved Hermione's room next to his. He did not mind at all. In fact, it was comforting to know that he would be nearby in case she needed anything. Thinking about what his visitor might possibly need reminded him to ask the TARDIS, "If she wakes up before I do, have another Nutristrip ready for her, will ya? Be sure to wake me if she needs me, though." Reassured by the ship's acquiescence, he went into his room. There he kicked off his boots and shucked his jacket before he dropped otherwise fully-clothed onto his bed.

 _Apparently, I was more tired than I realized,_ he thought as his mind started to drift off to sleep almost immediately. He hoped that was a good omen that perhaps his exhaustion would keep the nightmares away for at least one night. The last thing he remembered before succumbing completely to slumber, however, was the thought of a pair of intelligent golden brown eyes surrounded by a halo of brown wavy hair.

Approximately two hours, thirty-seven minutes, and fourteen point eight seconds later (according to his precise Time Lord brain), he awoke in a cold sweat with visions of Gallifrey and fire still crystal-clear in his mind. Apparently, he had not been quite exhausted enough and the dreams had still come for him. As he lay there and tried to recuperate...tried to _forget..._ he realized that part of his continuing unease was actually the TARDIS's consciousness as she nudged his mind and tried to get his attention. When he asked her what was wrong, she flashed him a picture of Hermione crying out while she tossed and turned in bed. Apparently, she was firmly in the grip of nightmares, also. The Doctor jumped out of bed at once, stopping only to throw on his boots and jacket again before he headed to her room. He might not be able to do anything about his own bad dreams, but he certainly could help that brave young woman with hers!

He let himself into her room and immediately went to her bedside, distressed by the sounds of pain coming from her. "No!" she screamed. "No, Harry! Don't go! He will kill you!" Then she whimpered. "Gone…everyone is gone." The Doctor's hearts sank even further then as he heard those heartbreaking words. He sat on the edge of her bed and went to stroke her hair, trying to comfort her into an easier sleep. The minute he touched her, though, she was up, standing on the opposite side of the bed, with her wand in hand. It was pointed directly at him. "Doc…Doctor?" she asked uncertainly, seeing him and tiredly trying to piece together her earlier memories of who he was. "What are you doing in here?" she then asked suspiciously.

He realized then how it looked, especially since he was still sitting on her bed. "Hermione! I would never… I mean I wouldn't presume…" he fumbled his words, mortified at first. Then horror and anger set in when he realized why she probably would be worried about something like that – especially since he had seen what had happened to her arm. Who knew what else had been done to the girl? He tried not to let these feelings show, though, because he didn't want to frighten her any more than he already had. Therefore, he tried to explain calmly. "The TARDIS told me you were having a nightmare. I just wanted to help."

"Oh," she said, and her eyes focused on the far wall for a moment. He guessed that she was communicating with the ship to confirm his story. She must have received what she needed because she looked at him, sadly, and slowly lowered her wand. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. He watched as her face fell with shame, as she thought about what she had all but accused him of. He made the decision to set her mind at ease - at least about their current situation.

"No!" he told her firmly. "Don't be sorry. I don't know exactly what you have gone through, Hermione. However, I can guess enough not to ever be insulted by your actions to try and protect yourself." Then, he added with another manic grin designed to reassure her, "In fact, your fast reflexes are quite impressive!"

It must have worked because he saw her entire body relax slightly. He then realized that she was trembling with nerves. Plus, her body was still weak from her ordeal. "Come sit down," he said as he moved to exit the bed.

"No, please stay," she murmured, still a bit embarrassed. She came around to the side of the bed where he was and sat down next to him. "I really am sorry," she repeated, taking his hand in hers. "This last year has been a nightmare and I took my distrust out on you. I appreciate that you tried to help, but I am no stranger to nightmares, and after the last couple of days I am sure that they are only going to get worse. I am sorry if I interrupted your sleep, too. The TARDIS shouldn't have bothered you with it."

The Doctor was once again amazed at his guest. She had been through hell and back and, yet, she was worried that _his_ rest had been interrupted. "Don't worry about it," he assured her. "I don't need much sleep. Superior alien physiology, you see!" He looked at her closely then. The trembling had abated, but she still looked weak. "Speaking of physiology," he said gently after his observation, "I want you to take another Nutristrip." At his words, one instantly appeared on her nightstand. He silently thanked the TARDIS as Hermione picked it up and, at his nod, placed it under her tongue. "Would you like to go back to bed now?" he asked. "Your body still needs rest." She shook her head, hesitantly and silently, since the Nutristrip still had not dissolved completely. "What about tea in the library, then?" With those words, once again he was amazed by how bright her eyes could get and how they could just light up a room.

"You have a library?" she asked delightedly - once her mouth was empty.

"Oh yes!" he replied, happy to have found a "safe" subject for her to talk about in her still weakened condition. "I take it that you are a fan."

"Oh, Doctor," she said with a fond, reminiscing smile. "I used to practically live in the library during my student years!"

"Well, come along then, Granger, and let me awe your inner scholar." His manic grin was back as he gave her just enough time to slip her boots back on before he grabbed her hand and enthusiastically led the way out of the room and down the corridor back to the console room.


	6. The Library

The Doctor smiled down at Hermione's eager expression as he wound his way back through the console room and up another corridor.

"Just how big is this ship?" she asked in a mixture of interest and awe.

"She is as big as you want her to be," he answered honestly. "The TARDIS can usually provide whatever you want, whenever you want it! She is not restricted by the regular rules of dimensional space."

"Wow," Hermione replied, as she thought about how similar the TARDIS was to the Hogwarts castle. She repeated that word much louder and with a lot more emphasis just a moment later when she saw the library for the first time. " **Wow**! Oh, sweet Merlin!" she also exclaimed as her knees almost gave out again. "No, it's okay," she reassured the Doctor as he turned to grab her. "It's not from weakness. I have just…never…seen…anything like this ever before!"

With those words, she turned her attention back to the huge, multi-storied room with row after row of beloved books. The Doctor watched her delighted expression as she turned around in a full circle to take it all in. It was the happiest he had seen her since she had joined him in the TARDIS and the emotion just transformed her. He thought that she was beautiful in her joy and he just could not take his eyes off of her. "Not even the British Library can compare with this!" She turned to see him just smirking at her. "You think you are so impressive," she said teasingly.

"I am so impressive!" he answered petulantly, as if she had wounded his pride by casting such an aspersion. She let out a small laugh in response as he led the way to a nearby secluded alcove where a couple of soft armchairs and a very comfortable looking couch were located. A fully loaded tea tray also awaited them on a side table.

"Oh," Hermione breathed. "This is heavenly, Doctor! It is just what I needed. Thank you so much for sharing this with me!" she exclaimed and her voice full of emotion as she surprised him with a hug. He surprised himself, as well, when he returned the excited woman's affectionate embrace with his own gentle squeeze and then again when he felt the absence of her in his arms keenly as she left him in order to make the tea. "How do you take it?" she asked, breaking into his thoughts and she gestured towards his cup.

"Just milk, please," he replied calmly, even though his mind was still a bit bewildered by his reaction to Hermione. He had never been one to desire physical closeness. Yet, he found that even though they had just met, he had already experienced (and enjoyed) more contact with Hermione than he had with anyone else for a _very_ long time. Not only that, but he had even initiated quite of bit of it himself!

 _Perhaps it is just a quirk of this new body,_ he all, it had not been that long since he had regenerated. The reason for the necessity of that change was not an area he wished to examine any deeper, however, so he turned his attention away from it and back to her. He eventually decided that maybe her air of mystery had something to do with his fascination, too. He had just never met anyone like her and once she felt able to explain herself and her situation, he should go back to normal. _Yes, that must be it!_ he decided with relief, as she handed him the prepared cup and he sat down in one of the chairs with it. He found that he was pleased, however, when she chose to sit down with her own cup on the end of the sofa closest to him - rather than in the other chair that was further away.

"What language are these books written in?" Could I read some? Would you mind?" Hermione's breathless questions dragged his mind back to the present again. He grinned at her obvious eagerness and he realized that it might be a good idea to focus on her questions about him and the TARDIS now. Hopefully, she would then feel comfortable enough to open up about her own situation. Therefore, he truthfully answered all of her verbalized questions and even anticipated some of her unspoken ones, too!

"The books are written in all kinds of languages – some are Earth based, but most are not. Nevertheless, you should be able to read any of them that you choose because the TARDIS uses her telepathic abilities to translate for you. She does the same for spoken languages, as well."

"Oh! That sounds wonderful – and convenient – especially for the type of _traveling_ that I am sure you do." Her eyes practically gleamed in anticipation of seeing what those shelves had to offer…and at the thought of cultural adventures without language barriers.

"Yes, it is!" He smiled knowingly before that genial look faltered as he guessed what her next question was going to be.

"Where are you and the TARDIS from, Doctor? What is your relationship? Are you friends, partners, or something else? Is it just the two of you or are there others aboard? What do you do? Do you have some sort of business that you handle or do you just travel?

Even though she had indeed asked the dreaded question, the Doctor could not help but to smile at her enthusiasm. He was also pleased with her curiosity. It was one of those qualities that he always liked about the humans who had traveled with him in the past. However, most people just asked "Where are you from?" and then left it at that. Hermione, though, seemed to want to know everything!

The Doctor found that he couldn't bring himself to talk about Gallifrey, yet, not even to say the name - so he gave her the generic version. "What you see, Hermione, is what you get. You have already basically figured us out. I am just an alien with two hearts journeying through time and space together with my magnificent sentient ship. We help out wherever we are needed and often get into trouble along the way." Here he stopped and grinned again. "Occasionally, we pick up strays, as well."

Hermione had listened attentively to the Doctor's explanation until he uttered his last sentence. "Helping out wherever you are needed and getting into trouble along the way," she repeated musingly before she looked up at him with an indecipherable look on her face. "Doctor, you have just described my life perfectly - up until now at any rate." She then met his manic grin with a shy smile of her own. "Am I one of your _strays,_ by the way?"

Her question took him by surprise, but his answer was instantaneous, nonetheless. "Hermione, I don't know you very well, yet. However, I can already tell that you are much too important to be just a stray!" This thought came out a bit too seriously for his liking - even though he was rewarded with a beaming smile from the lovely woman. That smile seemed to reach down right into what was left of his crushed soul in order to soothe it a bit. The Doctor did not know how to react to such a unexpected feeling, so he decided to quickly change the subject instead. To take their minds off of the conversation, he jumped up and offered her his arm. "Right then! Would you like to go browsing among the stacks?"

Another beam of delight from her direction threatened to do away with the perpetual gloom in his heart as she placed her hand in the crook of his leather-clad elbow. "Oh yes!" she whispered breathily and, as her warm brown eyes met his cool blue ones, he realized that he was in great danger! However, it was not from a ruthless dictator, man-eating monster, or vengeful enemy this time. No, but it was something just as dangerous: a fascinating, young, bright-smiled, warm-eyed, and lively-haired witch who apparently _really_ loved a well-stocked library!


	7. Sleeping & Waking

The Doctor looked over at Hermione and smiled to himself. She had fallen asleep on the couch surrounded by the books that she had selected. While he gazed at her, he thought about the cautiously pleasant hours that they had just spent as they browsed through the shelves and discussed so many of the neutral topics that the books provided – especially since Hermione was interested in _everything!_ It was especially gratifying to the Time Lord because he had always considered himself to be a scholar, but he had never met anyone before with such a natural enthusiasm for knowledge and research that could rival even his own. Hermione, however, proved that she was definitely his equal in that aspect as she asked one intelligent question after another during their lively conversation.

During this time, she also inadvertently dropped little snippets about her old life that he found to be absolutely fascinating, and even though he did not push her into telling her story (since she was obviously not ready for that) he did listen intently with the hope of catching even more information. At any rate, it did not take long before he had definitively decided that she was the single most interesting human being that he had ever met. Not only was her conversation pleasant and diverting, despite the haunted look that was often present in her eyes, but she had also selected such a huge stack of books to peruse that even he had to express some concern about carrying all of them. When he mentioned it to her, however, she just sent a little devious half-smile his way and reminded him that she was a witch. Then she had intrigued him yet again when she pointed her wand, muttered a spell, and levitated the entire pile of books that they had selected over to the lounge area without even breaking a sweat.

After that, they read in the companionable silence of true bookworms, punctuated only by Hermione's occasional questions about her reading material and his subsequent answers, as well as frequent bathroom breaks due to the copious amounts of tea that they consumed in the process. In fact, the TARDIS even decided to add a loo adjacent to the lounge area – just to make things more convenient for them. The witch was suitably impressed by the ship's abilities and told her so. This pleased the TARDIS so much that she also made a point to provide Hermione with every other comfort that she could possibly desire while still in the library. Consequently, the Doctor had to hide his amusement at finding his reading area suddenly inundated with fluffy pillows and cozy blankets, along with the apparently bottomless teapot, by grumbling good-naturedly about _domestics._

Time passed in this manner until he found himself looking at the peacefully sleeping woman and his hearts warmed. She looked lovely, simply lovely, in her repose. At some point, she had slid into a comfortable resting position – somewhere between reclining and lying down. Her head rested on her arm, her lively hair was spread around her _everywhere_ , and an open book rested against her chest since her still-exhausted body had reluctantly succumbed to sleep in the middle of a page. As the Doctor gazed at her, he noted that she did not seem to be troubled by bad dreams at the moment. He was very grateful for that because he knew that she needed restful sleep in order to heal, both physically and emotionally. Therefore, in order to make her more comfortable, he cleared some of the books away for her and gently covered her up with one of the blankets that the TARDIS had provided. Then, without questioning his reluctance to leave her by herself, he sat back in his chair with a book in order to watch over his mysterious visitor while she slept.

…

Hermione opened her eyes and the first thing that she noticed was that she felt much better. The Nutristrips, vitamins, and the much needed sleep had all worked together to help her feel more like herself. It took her a moment to realize where she was, but once she looked around and recognized the library, she smiled. _What a wonderful location in which to wake up!_ she thought. Then she realized that her companion was still in the library, as well, and had also fallen asleep in his chair. She sat up quietly in order not to disturb him. She moved slowly, as well, as it became obvious how sore her muscles were. She carefully ignored the reasons behind the pain, however, and resisted thinking about her situation as much as possible. She just was not ready to face those particular truths, again…not yet, at least.

In fact, she decided to focus her thoughts on the much more pleasant topic of the man next to her, instead. She was glad that he was asleep because it gave her the opportunity to study him at leisure without the embarrassment of being caught. He seemed to be such a private person that she wanted to take this opportunity while she had the chance. She looked closely at him. He had fallen asleep facing her ( _Had he been watching her sleep, too?_ she wondered, a bit sheepishly) with his head resting on the back of the chair. His features were sharp, defined, and quite attractive, she thought, upon further review…and she had to resist the ridiculous temptation to reach out and stroke a finger along his nose. Since it was thrown over the arm of the chair, she realized that he must have also taken his jacket off at some point after she had fallen asleep. That action allowed her to see, and admire, how his black jumper hugged his physique.

He was not just physically attractive, though. She thought about how kind and thoughtful he had been to the complete stranger who had literally just dropped in on him. He and his ship (and wasn't that an interesting development in and of itself) had taken her in, given her medical attention, and had fed, clothed, comforted, and befriended her. His obvious love of knowledge, and his patience with her many questions, were also points in his favor. She did not even find his status as a time traveling alien to be that odd since her introduction to the magical world at the age of eleven had made her much more accepting of the strange and unusual. Therefore, she felt quite comfortable with him.

 _Maybe even a little_ _too_ _comfortable,_ she thought wistfully - especially since she had the feeling that she was already quite attracted to the man. However, she knew that she carried too much physical and emotional baggage…and her life was way too uncertain…to even think about things such as romance and sex at the current time. It was probably a moot point, anyway, since the Doctor had not given any indication that he had that kind of interest in her. They had only just met, after all! She was grateful that he seemed willing to be her friend, though. Merlin knew that she needed one!

With that thought, her mind started to drift towards the inevitable memories. She pushed them back down again, however, because she was still not ready to deal with them. Instead she concentrated on working some of the soreness out of her muscles. While she flexed her arms, she realized the glamour charm that covered her forearm, and hid that horrible woman's handiwork, had worn off. She did not really want the Doctor to see it, though, so she grabbed her wand off of the table next to the couch where she had put it while reading, and waved it over the affected area. She had just started muttering the first word of the spell when the distinctive Northern voice next to her softly said, "Don't!" Hermione looked up quickly to see that he was awake and watching her intently.

"Why not?" she asked, as she met his eyes. "It's not the easiest thing to look at and you shouldn't have to see it. I don't want you to be uncomfortable every time you look at me!"

 _Too late for that,_ he thought, _but not for the reason you think!_ He shut that thought down quickly, however. "Hermione," he said instead, "nobody could ever think of anything negative when they look at you!" Then he glanced down, a bit sheepishly, as he noticed her small smile and realized what he had actually said. He regrouped and forged on quickly, though. "Just leave it be! It will heal easier if there is nothing obstructing it and I assume that means magic, as well. I put some salve on it yesterday, while you were asleep in the infirmary, and it already looks a bit better. However, I hope that you will consider letting me run the Dermal Regenerator over it today. There will still be a scar, afterwards, but at least it will be fully healed." He reached over and took her hand in his and then lightly stroked the carving with the tip of one finger on the opposite hand. "What does it mean, anyway?" he asked, curiously.

His question completely destroyed the light pleasurable feeling of his touch and Hermione sighed. She drew her hand back out of his and rolled her sleeve back down. "It's a slur on my blood status," she explained quietly. "It implies that I have dirty blood, that I am lower than low, just because my parents were Muggles… um…nonmagical people."

"I see," he said just as quietly, and he found that he had to reign in his anger so as to not frighten her with it. Then he looked at her questioningly as she stood up stiffly.

"I'm very sore today," she answered the unasked question.

He nodded in understanding since he knew that her muscles were probably responding to whatever kind of physical trauma that she had been through. "We will go to the infirmary after breakfast, if you wish," he told her. "I think that I can help with that, too."

"Oh, Doctor," she said with heartfelt gratitude and her eyes lost a bit of their darkness. "You are being very good to me! I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"When you are ready, I would like to hear your story," he answered gently. "I would like to know more about you and what happened to you. That's all the payment that I require. Maybe, then, we can figure out where to go from there."

She nodded. "I'll try," she said softly and she chewed her bottom lip nervously as she wondered how to face the past while also trying not to worry about what the future might (or might not) have in store for her!

"That's all you can do," he said understandingly. "Now, instead of a Nutristrip, how would you like some real food for breakfast?"

At her enthusiastic affirmative, he grinned and jumped up with that inexplicable manic energy that he often displayed. He then gallantly offered her his hand and led her to the galley.


	8. Breakfast

The Galley turned out to be right across the corridor from the library. "I guess the Old Girl moved it again - probably to make it easier for you," remarked the Doctor with a shrug. "She likes you, you know." He looked down at Hermione and smiled at the way his ship was affectionately spoiling their guest.

"Oh, I like her, too!" Hermione exclaimed, stopping to pat the corridor wall and they both laughed at the feeling of smugness that radiated all around them. "However, is that normal? Does she often move rooms around?"

"Whenever she wants, really," he explained. "Don't make her angry or you might not be able to find your bedroom for a month – or worse, the library will go missing!"

"That would be a punishment, indeed!" she replied with feeling. They both laughed again and went into the galley where breakfast was already waiting for them. "Oh, you cook, too!" she said, patting the wall again. "Thank you so much, TARDIS!" The ship's feeling of delight filled the room.

The Doctor stood back and watched Hermione interact with his ship. He had never seen anything like it. The young woman was just so…accepting…of everything. Nothing seemed to surprise her. She reminded him so much of, well, _him_! He liked that, a lot actually, but he had to know why. Therefore, he brought it up as they sat down to eat. "You seem strangely…unfazed…by all of this, Hermione. Most people are a bit more surprised when they find out about the TARDIS, me, and everything dealing with us, really."

"Doctor," she explained, "you have to understand that until I was eleven, I was an ordinary girl living in an ordinary world, even though I could make some strange things happen sometimes without knowing why. If I had met you back then, I probably would have been a bit more freaked out. However, then I received a letter that changed my whole world. It was my acceptance letter to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I then entered the magical world knowing absolutely nothing about it. I suddenly found myself living in a sentient castle that moved her staircases and doors around at whim and made rooms appear and disappear on request. The castle was also full of secret tunnels, living portraits, ghosts, dangerous creatures, and a magical library that was _almost_ the size of yours! Therefore, no, the TARDIS does not shock me. Amazes me - yes, but shocks me - no!" Here she paused, and patted the wall again.

Then she looked back at him. "As for you, my mysterious time-traveling, two-hearted alien friend," she paused here to smile brightly at him in a way that affected those aforementioned two hearts strangely, "at the wondrous age of eleven, I also suddenly discovered that the world was full of so much more than just mere _people_. I met, befriended, and/or became enemies of, not just Witches and Wizards, but also Elves, Goblins, Centaurs, Werewolves, Giants, Trolls, Vampires, and Merpeople, as well as many more. Therefore, meeting a good-looking man from another planet was simply a pleasant experience for me, but not a very shocking one." That being said, she reached over and squeezed his hand. Then she started to eat her breakfast in earnest as she tried not to giggle at his look of astonishment at her words.

Even after her surprising explanation, his predominant thought was _She thinks that I am good looking_. _Me - with this daft old face!_ He found that he approached his breakfast with a light heart after that and also that he had to work very hard to keep a silly grin off of his face. After a few minutes, another question occurred to him, though. "Do I even want to know how and why you know about the smell of time, then?"

"Well," she said, a bit deviously. "I may have a little experience in that area, as well."

"What?" exclaimed the Doctor. "Please tell me that time travel is not a common occurrence in your world." His mind was suddenly overrun with the consequences of such an irresponsible society. Therefore, he was very pleased when she quickly negated that idea.

"Oh, sweet Merlin, no!" replied Hermione, horrified. "What a disaster that would be!" she exclaimed and shuddered. "No, my professors had to get special permission from the Ministry for me to utilize the Time Turner. For the most part, I was very careful to keep the rules in mind, and found it to be a very meaningful experience. That particular smell that I recognized from you was something that I noticed between each time jump and usually I jumped several times a day, so I became very familiar with it. However, I decided to give up the Time Turner after just a year. I was already a year older than most of my peers since I had an early September birthday, anyway. Unfortunately, doubling each and every day with the Time Turner just exacerbated that problem."

"So you only stopped time traveling so that you wouldn't age prematurely. Interesting…" the Doctor thought about it. "Well, you don't have to worry about that in the TARDIS. Time here on the inside is completely separate from the time flowing outside. However, why in the world would your professors have wanted you to do such a thing in the first place?"

"It was my idea, of course! I requested the opportunity so that I could take all of the classes that were offered - instead of just the ones that fit into my schedule. However, I may have used it to circumvent a werewolf attack, prevent the execution of a innocent hippogriff, and to save my best friend's Animagus godfather from having his soul sucked out by evil Dementors, as well. That's about it, though…" she said innocently, as she looked up at him with a small smile.

 _She traveled in time just to take more classes? To learn more…and to save a few people along the way! That is absolutely fantastic! Will she ever stop surprising me?_ he thought as he blinked at her in wonderment for just a moment and then he grinned delightedly. "Hermione Granger," he said, reaching over to give her hand a squeeze. "I am so glad that I met you!"

"Me, too!" she replied quietly. Even though the sadness in her eyes was present, she squeezed his hand right back and bestowed that beautiful beaming smile upon him again.


	9. Emotional Battles

After their meal, Hermione insisted on clearing the mess. "Please let me handle this, TARDIS," she said. Then, with a wink at the Doctor, she pulled her wand out of her sleeve, muttered a few words while moving her wand in a counterclockwise motion. In the blink of an eye, the table was clear and the dishes were cleaned and stored back in their cupboard.

"Fantastic!" The Doctor expressed his approval of her actions with another of his manic grins. "I never had much patience for domestics, myself." Then he turned his attention to the witch. "Are you ready for the infirmary now? I would like to run another complete scan to make sure everything is back on track before running the Dermal Regenerator over your arm. I can also run the muscle stimulator as well. That and a hot bath will help to work out the soreness that you are experiencing."

"That sounds fine," she answered, her voice a bit weary as she was again forcefully reminded of her injuries...and their cause. She closed her eyes for a moment to try and will away the encroaching memories. After a moment, she felt collected enough to reopen them and turned her attention back to the Doctor. "Should the bath come first or after?" she asked, plucking at her jumper and wrinkling her nose a bit. "I've slept twice in these clothes now and I feel a bit…icky."

"It will probably be better to wait until afterwards," the Doctor answered. You will have to...disrobe…for the scans, anyway." He did not quite understand why the thought of seeing her in her underwear again unbalanced him a bit. After all, he had been mostly okay with the situation yesterday. However, they had been strangers, then. Now, they were…friends. He pushed these thoughts out of his head, though, and offered his hand to her. He smiled as she took it. "Let's see if she has moved the infirmary. Do you remember where it was last time?"

Hermione's morose mood lightened at the question. "Is this a test, Professor?" she asked cheekily and grinned almost despite herself. "Of course, I remember! It was the first room on the right side of the left hand corridor off of the console room." This was directed at him. However, then she also said in a louder voice, "TARDIS, dear, you really don't have to move rooms around for me, unless there is an emergency. I really don't mind the walk, plus this old man here could probably use the exercise, too!" Then she winked at the Doctor to show that she was just joking. The ship seemed to approve, as well, because he could feel her amusement practically oozing through the walls.

"My girls," he muttered, shaking his head with his own amusement, as Hermione led the way – still holding his hand. Neither one of them thought twice about the fact that he had used the world "my" to describe her. It had just felt natural.

…

Once they got to the infirmary, Hermione automatically stripped down while the Doctor set the scan. He then turned around to suggest that very action and his mouth went dry when he saw that she had anticipated his request and was already standing there in a lovely matching bra and knickers set. He noticed that she still looked very thin, but her color was better and she certainly was not lacking in confidence as she gazed at him questioningly. "Do I need to remove these, as well?" she asked. "Will they interfere with the instruments?"

"What? No!" exclaimed the Doctor, a bit thrown off by her self-assurance in this situation.

Hermione caught on to his unease and smiled. "It's okay, Doctor," she said reassuringly. "I spent the last year on the run, living in a tent with two men, my two best friends since our first year in school together." Here her breath hitched and her eyes and voice filled with sadness again. After a moment of silence to collect herself, she continued with what she had been saying. "Luxuries like privacy just didn't exist for us then. Therefore, I have learned to…adapt…to conditions. I am not embarrassed or afraid to be in my undies in front of someone I trust." Then she smiled at him gently as she went to lie down on the small bed.

With her expression of trust, he couldn't help but to feel pleased. However, after a moment, his repressed guilt came crushing back down on him. He had managed to keep it at bay since Hermione had arrived, but now he could not stop thinking of how unworthy he was of her trust. She did not know what he had done. She did realize that he was probably just as bad as her worst enemies, even though he did it because he had to – not because he wanted to! With these sobering thoughts, he set the full body scan and let it run over her while he went to the cabinet to prepare another vitamin hypospray. Therefore, he did not notice that she was watching him with concern. She wondered what he could possibly be thinking about that had turned his expression so sad that quickly.

Meanwhile, the first scan had finished, and the Doctor was glad to see that all of her numbers were looking better than they had the day before. However, he was concerned to see that two discolored areas were showing up on her dermal scan. One was the half healed carving on her arm and the other was located on her abdomen. He glanced over at that area, but he could see nothing unusual. Then he remembered how she had hidden her arm the first time. "Hermione, please take the spell off," he asked as calmly as he could when he realized that she was hiding another injury. "If I can't see it, I can't heal it," he said gently, but firmly, as he gestured towards her abdomen area.

She sighed heavily because she had hoped that he would not notice it. "It's an old one, just a scar now," she said apologetically, "but you won't like it at all." She called for her wand, from where it lay upon her pile of neatly folded clothes, and it zoomed into her hand. Then she made a circular motion with it over her abdomen and whispered a spell. This removed the glamour that hid the scar that Dolohov had put there during the battle at the Ministry during her fifth year. Then she waited for his reaction. However, she was not prepared for just how upset that he would get!

"Bloody hell, Hermione!" the Doctor exclaimed and clenched his fists as it flickered and then came into view. It was a huge angry purple scar that slashed diagonally across her abdomen starting under her right breast and ending up on her left hip. It looked like someone had tried to disembowel her! He struggled to contain his anger again and his utter horror when he thought of somebody doing something this terrible to such a lovely young woman.

Hermione was concerned when she saw how distressed he had become at the sight of her scar. "It's okay, Doctor, really!" she exclaimed and she grabbed his hands in hers and rubbed her thumbs against his fists gently until he relaxed enough to unclench them. "It was a long time ago and I'm okay now. It happened when I was sixteen – during my first real battle. It was just a handful of us kids against the Death Eaters that day." She eyes clouded at the memory of losing Sirius to the veil right after receiving her injury. She then shook her head, though, as if she could clear away the painful thoughts that way. She could not afford to do this right now. She then thought about his earlier words to her in the library, looked up at him, and gave into a rare moment of self-consciousness. "I thought that you said that you wouldn't mind looking at me – in spite of my scars."

"Hermione," he said firmly with his lips pressed in a tight line because he was still trying to suppress his anger. "I hope that you know that it is not you with whom I have a problem. However, I would love to get my hands on the sick bastard that did this to you!"

"Oh, Doctor," she said gently, surprised at the depth of his emotion. She then released one of his hands to reach up to stroke his cheek, instead. "Thank you so much for caring!" She then shocked him by leaning forward to kiss the opposite cheek from the one that she was touching. She had already started to care for her new friend quite a lot and it warmed her heart to know that he felt the same.

Both of his hearts seem to stutter at her simple kiss. He slowly let go of his anger as he realized that he would like nothing more than to take her in his arms and claim her mouth as his own. Then he wanted to move on to the rest of her body! He only allowed himself to indulge in this fantasy for just a brief moment, before he shook his head and frantically looked around for a distraction, hoping against hope that she had not noticed his reaction. "The Dermal Regenerator," he all but shouted in his relief at finding an appropriate diversion. "We will use it on this big one first." He gently pushed her back onto the bed and tried to distract his mind from the obvious thoughts that the action conjured. He may be an ancient alien, but a pretty girl on a bed, especially _this_ pretty girl, could still get his imagination up and running. He gently ran his fingertips over the scar, and listened in amazement when her breath hitched.

 _Could I be having an effect on her, as well?_ he thought incredulously. He tried in vain to clear these musings out of his mind and got back to the business at hand. He explained to her that she would feel a slight tickle, much like what he had just done to her with his fingertips, while the DR was working. He then sat down on the bed next to her in order to set the DR. He also programmed it to change its shape to a flat flexible rectangle which he draped over the entire scar area before he turned it on. The quiet hum and Hermione's little giggle at the sensation told him that it was working. He then pulled a blanket up over her scantily clad form so that she would not be cold or uncomfortable during the treatment. He worked in silence as he tried to get his emotions under control, as well. His sadness and guilt warred with his attraction to Hermione, and he was determined to hide it all from her!

 _She has enough to worry about without adding my emotional instability to the mix!_ he thought ruefully.


	10. Her Story

Meanwhile, Hermione watched the Doctor. Contrary to what he thought, she had noticed his reaction to her kiss. She wondered why such a simple act of gratitude would have spooked him so much. However, she also realized that things probably were not so simple for him - especially since she sensed that there was a deep sadness and loneliness in him. It was obvious in the way that he looked surprised, sometimes, when he laughed. It was as if he couldn't believe that he was actually enjoying himself. She knew exactly what it was because she felt the same way herself! Despite the fact that she had truly enjoyed her time here on the TARDIS with him so far, the sadness, guilt, and horror were always there – lying just below the surface. That is what she felt constantly and it seemed as if he did, too.

 _There must be a story there_ , she thought. Otherwise, why would such an amiable and attractive man be traveling alone when there was obviously room for so many more on the TARDIS?

She wondered if she could get him to tell her his story if she shared hers with him. She had to do it anyway, she owed him that much at least. _I guess there is no time like the present_ , she thought. Therefore, she grabbed his hand as he turned to leave the bed after setting up the DR.

"Please stay," she whispered. Then she took a deep breath and launched straight into her story. Otherwise, she would have lost her nerve if she thought about it too much longer! Therefore, she did her best to lock her emotions away while she told him about the struggle to prove herself as she explored her new powers as an eleven year old in a strange magical environment. She spoke of the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry. She then told the Doctor about her friendship with him and Ron (as well as the rest of the red-headed Weasleys). That led to an explanation of the dark wizard and his followers - all of whom they had spent their entire childhoods fighting in one way or the other. Then she took him on a year by year explanation of pertinent adventures that had led to the…end. She started with the description of fighting the troll in the girls' bathroom during her first year and then ended with a detailed description of the events of the year on the run during the Horcrux hunt.

The Doctor watched Hermione in fascination as she told her story. She kept her eyes closed during her explanation, and he had a feeling that, as she was speaking, she was watching the events playing against the back of her eyelids - like a movie. She also told her narrative in a smooth even tone, as if she was reciting a script.

 _That is quite an apt description, though, since the events of her life would have made one hell of a movie!_ he thought. In fact, if he didn't have such an insane life story himself, he probably would have doubted that the kinds of things that she described could even be possible at all! For example, he could scarcely believe that she and her friends had infiltrated a high security Goblin-run banking institution while disguised with potions as the enemy and then escaped on the back of a guard dragon! That was just _fantastic!_ He had known that she was extraordinary, but he really thought that he was the only one who had adventures like that!

He really could not believe just how much she had been through in such a short time. He had theorized before that she was no stranger to conflict. However, he had no idea that she had invested her entire childhood in fighting, in one way or the other, for her world. The knowledge that she was such a strong woman at such a young age served only to strengthen his growing regard for her. She really was an amazing woman!

He also noticed how she carefully tried to keep the emotion out of her storytelling, but that the pain leaked through, anyway. He noticed how she paused and gripped his hand tightly as she spoke of her parents, her torture, and the deaths that he could tell were spiraling up to the final battle that had somehow brought her to him and the TARDIS. Her story was obviously getting harder to tell because the pressure on his hand was almost constant now, instead of the intermittent squeezes that she had given before. He wondered if she was even going to be able to make herself finish - when all of a sudden the DR beeped to signal the end of the healing cycle - just as she finished her narrative up to the point of arriving back at Hogwarts before the final battle.

He watched her carefully as he pulled back the blanket in order to turn off the machine. Her eyes were still screwed shut and her hands were clasped together since he had removed his own to deal with the DR.

"Hermione?" he called her name softly.

"Yeah?" she whispered with her eyes still closed. He could tell that she was trying to maintain her tenuous hold on her emotions.

"Hermione," he said a little more firmly. He needed to make sure that she was alright.

"Oh, Doctor…" she whispered brokenly as she opened her eyes and he could see that they were shining with repressed tears. She then lost whatever slim control that she had exerted over her grief. He reached out for her as she sat up and fell into his arms. He wrapped them around her, pulling her close again, as her body shook with the force of her sobs. His hearts ached for her, but he knew that she had to let it out. He knew that she hadn't even told him the worst part yet. She still needed to tell him about the final battle _._

 _Grieving now would probably help to make that just a bit easier, though,_ he rationalized. At any rate, he held her until she had cried herself out. He could feel the TARDIS projecting comfort to her the entire time, as well, and marveled again at the kindred spirits that his ship and this remarkable young woman had become. When Hermione's sobs had finally trailed off, he held her during the aftershocks, as well. When she finally pulled away and tried to apologize, he would not let her. He whispered to her that grief was not a weakness and then just cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead gently. That simple action served to provide a small outlet for his own feelings, as well.

He took a minute to think about what else she might need. He soon realized that she was still in a state of undress and had started to shiver. He resisted the urge to gather her back up into his arms, however. It was not an appropriate time for that. Therefore, he removed himself from the bed in order to find her a dressing gown, instead. The TARDIS anticipated the need, however, and delivered one straight to her. Hermione thanked the ship quietly and donned it. The Doctor then suggested that she take some time in order to visit the bathroom, compose herself, and freshen up while he fetched the vitamin hypospray that he had prepared earlier, as well as a Nutristrip. He guessed that she wouldn't want anything to eat right then, but knew that she probably could use some nourishment, anyway. It had been quite some time since breakfast and her body was still recovering from her ordeal.

He was quite surprised, however, when she returned very quickly and sat back down on the bed. She took both of his offerings without complaint or argument - just quiet thanks. Then, finally, she took his hands in her own and held them in her lap.

"I've come this far," she said after a moment, while still looking down at their joined hands, "I think that I need to finish. In fact, I really want to go ahead and get it over with!"

"Hermione, you don't have to…" he started, but she cut him off.

"Yes! Yes, I do!" she exclaimed. "As bad as it is, I need to face up to it. Otherwise, it will just eat away at my soul and…" the rest of that statement was left hanging and unsaid, but the Doctor felt the unspoken words keenly, anyway. He knew exactly what she meant since his own secret pain ate away at him, as he watched Hermione struggle with hers.

 _She is so brave_ , he thought. _Maybe I can…_ He did not get to finish that thought, however, because just then she spoke again.

"As for the final battle, I don't think I can properly describe what happened. Could you please…?" Here she paused. She then gestured at her head as she looked at him beseechingly with her still-moist eyes. However, he noticed that they were as full of determination as they were with grief. He felt a surge of pride for her when he realized that she wasn't going to back down from this – no matter how uncomfortable it was!

"You want me to look at your memories? In your mind? Now? Are you sure?" He wanted to be positive that he had her permission since he remembered her anger from the day before. How had it only been two days since she had appeared in his console room? He felt as if they already had a connection that ran much deeper than such a short acquaintance would suggest was possible. He felt as if he had known this woman for at least a lifetime already – especially now since she had shared so much of her amazing existence with him.

"Yes," she whispered. "It would be easier if we were in my world and I could just pour them into a pensieve for you. However, I am guessing that you don't know what that is?" Here she looked at him questioningly and he shook his head in the negative. She managed a small smile at just how puzzled he looked at the idea of pouring out memories to watch. "Therefore, it would probably be easier for me and more detailed for you if you just go directly to the source," she continued.

"Do you know how to send them to me or do I need to …" the Doctor started to ask but stopped as she started shaking her head.

"No, I never got to finish my training. I learned how to organize my thoughts and how to block and put up shields during those last two summers before I went on the run. However, that was as far as I got. I can't send my thoughts to anyone else or retrieve theirs, either - not yet, anyway."

 _I'm sure that I can teach her how to do those things. It is obvious that she already has a natural telepathic ability – or she wouldn't be able to communicate with the TARDIS the way that she does,_ he thought. Then it struck him with some surprise that he was thinking in terms of her staying with him here in the TARDIS. _I decided not to take any more companions, though,_ he thought again. However, then he looked up at her, right into her beautiful brown eyes that were still bright with tears, and realized that he was not thinking of her in terms of being just a companion. That thought scared him, for many reasons, and he was almost relieved when her voice interrupted this dangerous train of thought.

"Doctor, is that okay? You don't have to do it. I just thought…"

"No, it is actually a very good idea. I was just…thinking…I want to make sure that you are sure. My people considered it quite an invasive action to go into someone's mind and see their personal thoughts without permission. Therefore, I should never have attempted to do it before. I want to apologize for that again." All of that was true, but what he did not tell her was that it was also considered to be a very intimate act by his people – an act utilized by mates and lovers, as well, as a way to interweave their mental and physical relationships.

"Don't worry about it, Doctor. Those were extenuating circumstances. Plus, you just skimmed the surface. I could tell that you weren't really trying to enter. I overreacted, really, just like I did in the bedroom. I am the one who should apologize. However, I think that you will understand a bit better once you see my memories and see for yourself what actions those _people_ are known for. You will then know why I acted the way that I did. I have to warn you, though, it won't be pretty! If you are in my memories, it will feel as if you are right there in the middle of it all."

"I have seen war firsthand before, Hermione," he admitted reluctantly.

"I know," she said softly and he quickly looked up at her in surprise. "I can see it in your eyes." She then reached up to cup his cheek as something passed between them in that minute of mutual understanding.


	11. Meeting of the Minds

An almost unfamiliar emotion started to rise within him then. One that he had not felt in so long that he could hardly recognize it. It was _hope!_

 _She would understand. I could tell her!_ he thought. _No!_ came the next immediate thought. _She trusts you now, but if you tell her that, she will know you for the monster that you are!_ Those opposing thoughts continued to battle each other until Hermione's soft voice interrupted them.

"Doctor? Are you alright?" He looked up, startled, into her concerned eyes as she continued to speak. "I think that you got lost in your thoughts. I know that I have a tendency to do that, too – especially lately. It's been so nice to have a new friend to lean on, however. You have been so amazing to me through this ordeal – even though I was a perfect stranger to you. I just want you to know that I am here for you, too! The TARDIS is pretty fantastic, but I bet I can give a much better hug than she can!" With those words, she leaned forward and demonstrated by wrapping her arms around him.

He allowed himself to accept her embrace and buried his face in her amazing hair for just a moment. Just a moment was all that he was willing to risk before he knew that he would decide to stay there forever! Thankfully, though, just that moment was all that it took to reestablish his equilibrium. There was just something that was extremely soothing and so tempting about her – the _Essence of Hermione,_ he called it to himself. He then forced himself to pull back slowly and realized how much calmer he felt as he looked at her.

"Thank you," he said quietly. Then he remembered that he had a job to do and morphed back into the man with the manic energy and grin. "Now, let's set up the DR again for your arm. What do you think of the job that it did on your big scar?"

Hermione looked at him seriously for just a moment before she realized that he was just trying to change the subject. He was uncomfortable and not ready to talk about his issues, yet. _That is okay, though,_ she thought, _I still have plenty of issues for both of us!_ Therefore, she just decided to play along with him for the time being. _Maybe it would be better for us both if we just handled one thing at a time, anyway._

However, the smile that crossed her face when thinking about her scar was genuine. "I saw it in the bathroom mirror and it looks amazing! It is still there, obviously, but it is very faint now. Did you get a chance to see it?"

At the shake of his head, she leaned back on the bed again and untied the sash on her dressing gown. Then she unreservedly pushed it open in order for him to look upon the DR's handiwork.

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed, as he traced the now much fainter scar with his fingertips again. At her sudden intake of breath at the action, he seemed to realize what he was doing and their eyes met again. He noticed that even though hers still shone with emotion, they were much calmer now. She noticed that his suddenly seemed more intense. She gave him a small gentle smile and reached up to stroke his cheek again. As she lowered her hand back down, he caught it in his own, and placed a single kiss on her palm before replacing it at her side.

Not a single word had passed between them, though…and when Hermione dropped her eyes in order to close up and tie her dressing gown, the Doctor quickly returned his attention to the DR as if nothing had happened. The thumping of his hearts told him otherwise, but he forced himself to focus on the job at hand. He reset the DR into healing mode and programmed it into a smaller flexible rectangle to drape over her forearm. He motioned for her to pull up her sleeve and then put the DR into position and turned it on.

"This time you will feel a warming sensation, as well as the tickling one," he explained, finally breaking the gentle silence between them.

"Does the heat signal the healing process then?" she asked once she felt the warmth on her arm. Even though her hand still tingled from where he had kissed it, she knew that it was not the time to focus on that. At any rate, her curious mind was eager to exercise again and a ton of questions flooded her mind about the work at hand. When he nodded, she smiled hesitantly. "I hope that its scientific basis allows it to work, then. I know a few healing spells, but since it is a cursed wound, magic can't cure it completely."

"Cursed?" he asked feeling a mixture of both curiosity and anger at her words.

She calmly nodded, but the Doctor saw the momentary flash of panic in her eyes. "B…Bellatrix used a cursed knife to do it." Hermione explained as she struggled with the memory of her torture. "It is a dark magic designed to never let the wound fully heal, so it will stay painful and keep reopening, bleeding, etc..."

He nodded his understanding, but his lips pressed tightly together. Her explanation had reawakened his fury on her behalf. However, he did not want to upset her right now, so he decided that it would be best if he kept quiet about it for the time being. Therefore, even though he did grab her hand and hold it for a few moments to comfort her, he also forced himself to move onto the next issue at hand – looking into her memories.

"Are you ready then?" he asked quietly instead. "I am assuming that you know how this will work." She nodded. "Just remember that we won't be able to talk, but we can send thoughts and feelings if we need to – much like the way the TARDIS communicates with us." She nodded again. "It would be easier if I touched you. Would that be alright?" he then asked softly, since he knew that this whole experience would probably make her uncomfortable and he did not want to add to her unease, if at all possible.

"Yes, that's fine," she whispered with some trepidation, but not at the thought of his touch. She felt comfortable enough with him that it didn't bother her at all! However, she dreaded the thought of having to relive those particular memories. She knew that it had to be done, though. Therefore, she heaved a heavy sigh of resignation. "I will have the relevant book waiting for you on the table."

He looked at her curiously for that cryptic statement, but she had already closed her eyes. _Probably preparing for my intrusion_ , he thought grimly. He leaned forward, put his fingertips on her temples, opened his mind, and almost gasped in surprise as he slipped easily into hers with no resistance whatsoever. She had opened up to him freely. He was momentarily amazed by the amount of trust that such an action would take. However, other emotions then started to wash over him.

Of course, he had known and communicated with other telepathic species before - especially since there were many throughout the universe. However, this experience was _different._ This felt like coming home! Hermione's mind wrapped around him, and while he could feel some initial uneasiness at the thought of what memories he would see from her painful past, the overall feeling was of welcome, comfort, and intimacy. That last one was a surprise. He knew that the two of them were becoming very close, very quickly, but her mind should not feel this comfortable and familiar to him this soon.

However, he knew it was a gift and he received it gratefully. He welcomed it like a man in the desert welcomes water. He had not felt a mind touch him like this since he had lost his people and even before then, it was a rare event. Therefore, he took just a moment to bask in her telepathic signature - which was only made more special by what he guessed was the unique feel of her magic itself! He finally remembered that he had a job to do, though, and reluctantly turned away from the welcoming warmth to face her… _library?_

He was a bit surprised to suddenly find himself in a giant library. He could not help but to smile at the coincidence - especially since he had also organized his mind in a similar fashion. He looked around, impressed. Hermione's mind library was huge and looked a bit like the one on his TARDIS. Therefore, he was willing to bet that she had modeled it after the one from her schooldays at Hogwarts. After all, she had mentioned that the two of them were comparable.

He had to find that particular set of memories dealing with the battle, though, so he focused his attention on the books on the shelf closest to him. To his surprise, he found himself in front of a series of _First_ books. Apparently, he was standing in a very interesting section because right in front of him were several volumes labeled as _First Crush, First Boyfriend, First Kiss, First Sexual Experience, and First Orgasm._ He swallowed hard as he read the title of that last one. Just then a feeling of slight indignation and embarrassment surrounded him and he realized that he had been caught. He quickly sent back apologetic thoughts and turned away from that shelf.

Just as he wondered where he would be able to find the memories of the battle, he felt her slightly amused exasperation and a spotlight appeared out of nowhere to highlight a very large book on the lone table in the middle of the room. Her earlier comment suddenly made sense to him, then. He walked over and read the title to make sure. It was labeled as _The Final Battle_ and it was exactly what he was looking for!


	12. The Final Battle

The Doctor eyed the book as he sent a concerned thought out to make sure Hermione was ready. He felt a reluctant affirmation and realized that she was as prepared as she was going to be. Therefore, he opened up the book without further hesitation. When he did so, the memories immediately started to flow across the pages and he was able to watch them as if they were on a TV or movie screen.

All of the memories were from Hermione's point of view. He was seeing the events through her eyes. Therefore, he immediately noticed that she was not alone. He carefully noted the two young men flanking her on each side and felt how strong her affection was for them both. Her memories clearly told him that the dark haired one was Harry and the redhead was Ron. He thought about the stories that she had already told him about their many exploits together and he was a bit surprised to realize that he felt a little irrational pang of jealousy at the obvious closeness of her relationship with them. However, he was soon able to tamp down on that particular emotion - especially when he realized that he knew what their ultimate fate had been.

He turned a page in the book and watched as the three of them infiltrated and fought their way through the castle that had served as their home and school for so long, but now had to be seen as an enemy stronghold. He felt her heart ache for the castle and he remembered that she had described it as a sentient building. He remembered back to when he had once seen the Old Girl similarly infiltrated and understood the utter hopelessness that Hermione felt when she realized that she couldn't help the place that had become a friend to her. He had known it before, but he didn't truly understood until right then that her relationship with the castle was one of the reasons why she was able to develop such a strong rapport with the TARDIS. Just then, as if she knew that they were thinking about her, he felt the TARDIS touch both of their minds offering comfort and affection. He sent thanks to his ship (and felt Hermione do the same) and then turned his attention back to the memories.

He continued to watch through Hermione as she experienced joyful reunions with old friends that she had left behind before going on the Horcrux hunt. However, he also saw how that small bit of happiness was overshadowed by her growing horror at all of the death and destruction that surrounded her. He watched the atrocities committed upon both the living and dead by those hiding behind the silver masks and black cloaks. These acts were especially heinous since most of the recipients were just school children and those who were barely of age. The Doctor then realized exactly why Hermione had said that he would understand her defensive actions after he saw exactly what these so called Death Eaters were capable of. He certainly understood her early distrust and the measures that she had taken to protect herself against him now – especially since he knew that she had been fighting against these monsters ever since she was a young child!

He then watched with amazement as Hermione skillfully fought her way across the battlefield. She was full of grace and determination – even in her desperation. He felt a surge of pride for her every time when she tried to do the right thing and incapacitate the enemy, instead of kill them. She did this whenever possible - even when faced with those who had hurt her before. He watched with approval whenever she stopped to help those in need or pain, regardless of the danger to herself. His hearts went out to her as he felt her pain and anguish when she saw her friends fall one by one until she realized that she was the last one left. He felt himself nodding with agreement at her agonized decision to run and not allow herself to be taken alive. Then he watched with great interest as the multiple spells hit her all at once from all sides when she tried to escape by apparating ( _What is that? It might be important. I must ask._ he thought). He speculated that the combination of all of this activity must have been what had somehow sent her to the TARDIS. Then there was nothing…and he realized that this was the end of her set of memories of the battle because she was unconscious aboard his ship directly after these events.

He sighed heavily to himself as he closed the book. Her memories had reawakened some of his own battle scarred ones and he now understood exactly why Hermione had been in such poor physical and emotional condition when she had first appeared on the TARDIS. His poor girl had been through so much and it was a wonder that she was even alive! He was suddenly overcome with concern for her and cast out a mental inquiry, trying to judge her state of being and hoping against hope that she was alright after seeing these events again. He knew that reliving such traumatic memories could have been seriously detrimental to her physical and mental well-being and the progress that she had made towards healing in both of those areas. He felt only the faintest of responses to his inquiry and therefore decided to gently pull of out her mind in order to check on her in person.

As he came to his own senses, he immediately missed the warmth and intimacy of her mind touching his and hoped fervently that it wouldn't be the only time that he would experience it. Then he blinked a couple of times to readjust to his current surroundings and looked around him. Hermione was still lying back on the infirmary bed, with her eyes firmly shut. He wasn't really surprised to see that she had fallen soundly asleep! Reliving that horrible series of events had drained her, physically and emotionally. Therefore, her body had responded by shutting down completely and forcing her to rest. The Doctor approved. Rest was probably the best thing for her right then and when she awoke, the memories would no longer be as sharp and raw as reliving them must have seemed! He was surprised, however, at how drained he personally felt after the extremely unpleasant experience. Therefore, he pulled up a chair next to her bedside, reached for her hand, and drifted off into a light, fitful sleep himself before he knew it.

* * *

Hermione woke up when the DR beeped to signal the completion of its cycle. She looked up into a pair of concerned blue eyes that were still heavy with sleep themselves as their owner reached over her to remove the device from her arm. She shyly smiled up at him with true affection and he returned the sentiment by lightly caressing her cheek with his free hand.

"You were fantastic, my dear girl!" he whispered with feeling. He meant it, too! "How are you feeling?"

"Like I have lived through a battle - for some reason," she replied with a touch of bitter snark. Then she flushed as she realized that she was speaking to a friend and immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be rude."

"Hermione, after what I have just seen, you can be as rude as you want!" he told her sincerely as he brushed off her need to apologize. "Can you sit up? Slowly now!" he commanded, as he took her hands and helped her into an upright position – noting how stiff and painful her movements were. They still needed to run the muscle stimulator in order to take care of that.

"Thank you, but I'm okay," she insisted and looked down at her arm to distract herself from the very real danger of losing herself to the power of the concern and affection in his eyes. She was amazed to see that the DR had indeed been able to heal the red, weeping wound. It was now just a series of thin white scars. The hateful slur of a word was faint, but still recognizable. However, Hermione decided that the lack of blood and pain made the little visible reminder more than bearable. Therefore, she refocused her attention on the man who had made it possible. "I don't know how to thank you. It looks and feels…" here she paused and a small gleam of mischief lit up her eyes, "…fantastic!"

He found himself grinning back in relief. "That it does!" he replied happily.


	13. Stimulation

Hermione smiled at the Doctor for a moment until the memories started to invade again. Then, just as her smile turned sad, she made a slight movement that caused her to suddenly grimace. Spending all of that time just lying still, both while the Doctor was in her memories and while she was sleeping, had allowed her muscles to gain even more soreness as the day wore on.

The Doctor with his usual keen observation skills noticed her change of mood and the small moment of pain. Therefore, he stood up immediately to reprogram the DR to Muscle Stimulation mode. He thought about the memories he had seen of her in the final battle. She had fought so very hard, but had done so much more than that, as well. He had seen her throwing spells and maneuvering away from the spells thrown at her – all while jumping, spinning, kneeling, running, and even while carrying some of the wounded away from the main arena of fighting. Therefore, it was no surprise that she hurt everywhere. In fact, it was a wonder that the damage wasn't much worse than it actually was!

"Now," he said with a reassuring smile, "we need to take care of those sore muscles before they get even worse. If we wait until tomorrow, then you will probably be barely able to move at all! Therefore, let's get the MS running, then you can have a hot bath, dinner, and a good night's sleep. How does that sound?" At this, he clapped his hands as if excited to get started.

Hermione couldn't help but to smile again at his enthusiasm, knowing that he was trying to be cheerful for her sake. "That sounds brilliant, Doctor," she said truthfully, even though her tone was still a bit subdued.

"Okay then!" the Doctor responded with a flash of his manic grin again. "This will feel a lot like a massage. However, instead of hands, it uses pulse technology to stimulate the muscle tissue. Afterwards, a hot bath will relax those same muscles and the soreness should basically disappear. You should be able to sleep like a baby all night long – especially with a little pain reliever in a hypospray." Then the Doctor looked at her a little sheepishly as he said, "I'm afraid that you are going to have to undress completely for this part, though…so that the MS can run over the entire length of your body." Hermione thought that the embarrassed look was completely adorable on him as he rushed on to explain. "It will be really quick, though. Running the MS over both your front and your back will only take a fraction of the time that the DR took. Now, I am going over there to prepare your hypospray. Go ahead and undress. Then lie on your back. You can use the blanket to cover yourself while I show you how to use the controls." He stopped to give her a reassuring smile. "Just shout out when you are ready!" Then he turned his back to give her some privacy.

Pushing her bad memories back down into a deep place for the time being, Hermione did as he asked. Then, however, her thoughts took a surprisingly different track as she briefly considered not using the cover blanket, at all. She wondered how the Doctor would react to seeing her without it. Would he be professional and clinical at the sight of her naked body or would his shell finally crack a bit? Then she finally started to wonder just how _alien_ he was. Did he even do _things_ like that? His embarrassment suggested that he did, but she could just be reading too much into his reaction. She didn't really have enough experience to be an accurate judge on the matter since she had only known one man in that way before. Then she realized what she was doing and shook her head. _I am being ridiculous! Why am I even thinking about this right now?_ she thought as she pulled up the blanket. She wouldn't do that to the Doctor. He had been too good of a friend to her just for her to ruin it all in a moment of impetuous behavior - no matter how much she was attracted to him! She took a moment to calm herself down and then called out to him that she was ready.

The Doctor had been very careful not to think about what she was doing while his back was turned. He was determined to be professional about this situation - no matter what. However, once he turned to face her, he saw her lying back on the bed with her amazing hair fanned out around her. He felt his heart rates speed up at the sight and that was even before he saw the gentle swells of her breasts above the top of the blanket that she had pulled up almost to her armpits. He cursed himself for the very physical reaction that he had then. " _I'm not some stupid ape that can't control his hormones_!" he told himself firmly as he tried to will away that particular problem before she noticed. Fortunately, it was underneath the line of sight from the elevated bed, so he was safe. He was ashamed of his behavior, though. The amazing woman was hurt and had just relived the worst moments of her life and here he was… _wanting_ her! He shook his head, as if that would clear his inappropriate thoughts. Then he cleared his throat, as well, and started to explain how to use the MS.

He enlarged the size of the MS and slightly curved the shape, so that it would semi-drape over her, without actually touching her. Then, when she pushed the correct sequence of controls (which he proceeded to show her) the MS would travel from her neck to her toes, providing energizing pulses as it went. Then when it stopped, she could reset it, and turn her body over onto the other side. The MS would then travel up her body in the opposite direction until it reached her neck again. Then she could turn it off, put on her dressing gown, and head for her room to take her bath. After he was sure that she understood what to do, he applied the pain-relieving hypospray to her newly healed arm and then headed for the door. At the threshold he stopped and softly said, "Don't forget to take off your blanket before you start!" Then, after a quick nervous smile, he was gone.

Hermione couldn't help but to grin at his uneasiness at the thought of her nudity. He was such a gentleman, though. _Too much of one, actually_ , she thought ruefully. Still thinking about the attractive alien, she pushed off her blanket and ran the MS. The whole process felt a bit odd, like a deep muscle tickle! However, she could definitely tell a difference by the time she was finished. Most of the soreness was gone, but she felt like _everything_ was tingling under her skin. That was a side effect that she had not been expecting. Muscle _stimulator_ , indeed! The thought of sinking into a hot bath was suddenly even more attractive and she wondered, with a blush, if she could convince the TARDIS to add a multiple setting shower head attachment for her since she was positive that she would be bathing alone…unfortunately! "What is wrong with me? I normally can control myself better than this!" she muttered under her breath as she donned her dressing gown. She only hoped that she wouldn't run into the Doctor before she got to her room. She wasn't positive that he was safe from her at the moment and she didn't want to ruin the close friendship that was developing between them by jumping him in a corridor!

She was suddenly distracted by a thought. _Wouldn't Ginny just laugh at that, at me, all in a physical tizzy over a man?_ _And an older man at that!_ _She always thought that I would do better with someone like Remus, Sirius, or even Snape than I would with someone our age!_ _She didn't even think that Viktor was old enough for me!_ Hermione thought with a bit of amusement, until the hard, cold reality of the truth suddenly set in again. _How could I have possibly forgotten – even if just for a minute?_ she thought, thoroughly ashamed of herself. Everyone that she had just thought about was gone! She then discovered that the memory of her dear friends' deaths had been a much more effective solution for her _problem_ than a cold shower could ever have been! Therefore, it was with a subdued libido, and even more subdued spirit, that she made her way back to her room. She was grateful not to encounter the Doctor along the way, after all, but definitely not for the same reason as before.

* * *

After leaving the infirmary, the Doctor kept himself busy by putting together a meal in the galley. He knew that Hermione would be very hungry by the time she was finished with the MS and her bath. That was usually one of the major effects of the muscle stimulator. He then stopped in his tracks when he suddenly remembered what the other common side effect was. She was also going to be quite _stimulated_ by the time that she was done!He gulped hard and tried to keep his thoughts off of what that would mean, of what she might want to do. _What if she comes to me?_ he thought, half-hopeful and half-terrified at the thought. _I'll have to turn her down. I wouldn't take advantage of her – no matter how much I might want to…_

He shook his head sharply to clear it. No, he didn't think Hermione would do that. She was too good of a person to use him just for release and she couldn't possibly want him in any other way besides friendship, anyway. At any rate, they were becoming quite close, forming a special connection, and he wouldn't risk that by trying for anything else. However, he would just stay here, out of the way, in the galley…just in case.


	14. Amusement, Admiration, & Anxiety

Hermione did feel better after a hot bath in the deep tub that the TARDIS had thoughtfully provided for her. Her muscles had relaxed during her soak and, fortunately, there was no more extra _stimulation_. Thankfully, even her self-recrimination had abated some, as well. Now, however, she was starving! Therefore, she put on some comfortable PJs that the TARDIS had apparently laid out for her while she was in the bath. Then she made her way to the galley. She found the Doctor already there, nursing a cup of tea and looking pensive.

"Care for some company?" she asked lightly – trying not to worry him. He looked up at her quickly and thoroughly searched her face with his eyes. _What is he looking for?_ she thought. Then, with a look of resignation and acceptance, he nodded and gestured to the empty chair - and full mug - across from him.

"Feeling better?" he asked, as he tried to nonchalantly continue to drink his tea. She just looked at him for a minute trying to put a name to the weird tension surrounding them. _Oh!_ she thought with sudden clarity. _He knows about the MS effects – and he is nervous about my reaction!_ For some reason, that amused her, so she decided to have a little fun with him!

"Oh yes! The soreness and range of movement is so much better," she said with a glint in her eye that he didn't quite understand – until she continued to speak. "However, I wasn't quite prepared for the side effects." He suddenly stilled, his mug half-way down from his mouth after taking a sip. "You could have given a girl some warning that she was going to need a cold shower, something battery operated, or a willing bloke afterwards, you know!" She exclaimed as she reached over and punched him on the arm in mock exasperation! Then she chuckled into her mug as the Doctor proceeded to choke on his tea in shock at her bold statement!

When he finally composed himself, he couldn't help but look up at her with his expressive blue eyes brimming in amusement – and admiration! He was glad that she could take it so lightly. He knew that he shouldn't have placed so much importance on her reaction. She had not come to him (and why was he so disappointed by that when he had already decided that it would not have been a good idea?) but apparently she hadn't rejected him and pretended that nothing had happened, either. She didn't have to bring up such a personal and potentially embarrassing subject to him, but he was glad that she had. Therefore, after regaining some control over the turmoil of his thoughts, he decided to answer her in a similar fashion.

"What? I thought ladies liked surprises!" he exclaimed and threw up his hands in mock confusion while they both dissolved into laughter. They were both relieved that they could joke about such a thing with each other and that their still tentative connection had not been damaged in any way during what could have been a tricky situation.

"Hungry?" he asked after they had calmed down enough to talk again.

"Starving!" she answered honestly and was surprised to see him retrieve a tray laden with food from what looked like a warming cabinet of some sort. "Did you cook?" she asked in amazement.

"Should I be offended that you sound so surprised?" he asked lightly, his eyes sparkling with amusement again. "Don't most bachelors learn to fend for themselves?"

"Yes, but then again, most bachelors don't live in sentient ships that can cook for them!" she retorted.

"Fair enough," he conceded. "However, believe it or not, I do usually handle my own meals unless there is an emergency."

"Like an injured witch suddenly appearing out of thin air in your console room?" she asked.

"Exactly," he agreed. "I'm not usually that lucky!" he added, only half-joking, and received a beaming smile from the witch as a reward for his efforts. He returned it as he carefully served the soup and sandwiches that he had prepared earlier. He knew that she would need something nutritious and filling and this menu had seemed to fit the criteria perfectly.

They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes before a thought occurred to Hermione. "You haven't asked anything about what you saw in my memories, yet," she stated with some surprise.

"And I am not going to tonight," he replied seriously. "We can discuss it and our options tomorrow. I _know_ that it is overwhelming enough being constantly bombarded with your darkest memories without having to keep talking about them, too!"

She looked back at him with a mixture of gratitude at his understanding and anxiety over what those so-called "options" might entail. Of course, she knew that things would have to change. They couldn't stay here in this safe little bubble forever. The Doctor had explained the nature of the Vortex to her during their discussion in the library. Therefore, she knew that they were basically just hanging out in it until she was well enough to … well, she just hadn't thought that far ahead, yet. In retrospect, she realized that she had been actively trying to avoid doing so before now. What future could she possibly have now? How could she face the rest of her life without everyone and everything she had ever known and loved?

"Hermione," the Doctor's voice interrupted her troubled musings and she looked up at him with sad eyes. "I know that it is hard, but please try not to worry about it now. That's why I didn't want to bring up the subject tonight. However, rest assured that whatever happens, you will not be alone. I will make sure of that! Do you understand?" With those words, he reached out to stroke her cheek in what he hoped was a soothing matter.

 _How did he know what I was thinking?_ She didn't trust her voice at that moment, so she just reached up, squeezed his hand and nodded. Then feeling that her response just wasn't enough, she stood up, crossed over to his side of the table and wrapped her arms around him and he automatically reciprocated the gesture.

The Doctor was surprised (and quite delighted) to suddenly find Hermione in his arms. However, what came next was an even greater surprise. "Thank you!" she said. Then she stretched up and brushed her lips against his in a simple and gentle kiss. "Thank you for everything. I think that I will go on to bed now, if you don't mind. I just want to…oh…thank you!" With those emotion-filled words, she pulled away from him and half-ran through the door. She didn't stop until she got to her own room.

The stunned Doctor just stood there, with his lips still tingling from her touch, and watched her go. He didn't try follow her, as much as he wanted to, because he knew that she probably needed to sort some things out for herself. He did ask the TARDIS to keep an eye on her, though, and to let him know if she needed anything. _What an amazing woman!_ he thought fervently. _I will do everything I can to help her – no matter what!_ He left the mess in the kitchen, asking the TARDIS for forgiveness and if she would take care of it, so that he could go do some research in the library. He had some questions that he needed to find answers for before he and Hermione had their talk tomorrow.

* * *

Back in her room, Hermione threw herself on her bed and scolded herself for her lack of control – while the TARDIS hummed comfortingly in the background. Fortunately, the Doctor didn't seem to mind her little slip-up of a kiss. Hopefully, he didn't think that she was being just a silly little hormonal human. Then her thoughts drifted…his lips had been softer than they looked and they were surprisingly warm, too! She would have liked to spend more time with them! With that thought, she smiled and fell asleep – completely exhausted after her extremely emotional day. Surprisingly, even after reliving her memories of the battle, her dreams were considerably more pleasant that night than they had been during the previous one.


	15. An Unexpected Surprise

After several hours of research, the Doctor still had not found any satisfactory answers to his questions. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and set the book aside. He realized with some surprise that he was tired enough to sleep again. Normally, a couple of hours a night was more than enough for him and an occasional night of no sleep at all would not affect him in any adverse way. However, the emotional events of the day must have taken their toll because he found himself heading for his bed. He paused outside of Hermione's door (which was adjacent to his again) and asked the TARDIS how she was doing. He smiled as he was sent a picture of her sleeping peacefully and he was glad that she was not being troubled with bad dreams. He only hoped that he would be as lucky as he continued on to his room.

* * *

He was not that lucky, after all. Viewing Hermione's battle memories first hand had brought his own war memories back up to the surface. As he lay there unconscious, they waylaid him with the sights and sounds of the worst days of his considerably long life. He was helpless to resist the screams that echoed in his head and the fire that scorched the ground, sky, and flesh.

* * *

Hermione awoke suddenly and could not immediately figure out why. Amazingly, she had not been having a nightmare for once. In fact, her dreams had been rather pleasant, although she could only vaguely remember them now. However, she felt unsettled and nervous for some reason. Those feelings kept intensifying until she felt sheer terror and horror. In her confusion, she reached out to the TARDIS. In return, she received an image of the Doctor who was obviously wrapped up in an all-consuming nightmare. _Am I feeling what he is feeling?_ she asked the TARDIS and received a gentle affirmative. _Oh, the poor man!_ _I've got to help him_! She jumped up and headed for the door. She stared at the door right next to hers with surprise because she had not noticed it earlier. Then she realized that the TARDIS must have moved the Doctor's room closer to hers so that she could comfort him. She gingerly tried the door handle and the door opened up onto a very masculine room. She rushed over to the bed where the Doctor was thrashing around. Calling his name didn't seem to help and neither did giving him a quick shake. Therefore, she did the only thing she could think of at the moment. She crawled into bed behind him, wrapped her arm tightly around him, and pressed her body against his back – trying to give him as much comforting contact as possible. This seemed to do the trick because, after just a few seconds, he stilled. After another moment, his breath deepened and evened out, his double heartbeat slowed down, and she could tell that he had fallen into an easier slumber. She then debated climbing out of his bed and going back to her own, but physical exhaustion still would not allow her to do more than just think about such an action. Plus, she realized how comfortable it was to be with the man in his bed. Therefore, since he wasn't in any position to give his opinion about the matter, she let herself slip back into a guilt-free sleep while still holding him in her arms.

* * *

The Doctor awoke the next morning with vague memories of his usual nightmare, but unusually sharp memories of a dream about Hermione. In the dream, she had come to his bed and comforted his nightmares away. He had felt so warm…and loved. He didn't know exactly what to do with that information since he was just starting to realize the depth of his affection for the little witch. However, he was confident that it was okay to enjoy that closeness with her in his dreams – even if he couldn't have it in reality. In fact, he was still feeling the comfort that being in her dream arms provided. It was at this time that the usually much more observant alien realized that he was not actually alone in his bed. His eyes widened in surprise as he noticed that there was a decidedly feminine arm draped over his side and a warm soft body pressed up against his back. _Could it really be…?_ He turned over as slowly as he could in order not to disturb her. He then watched in amazement as the still-sleeping Hermione frowned at the loss of the warmth of his body and snuggled closer to find it again. He allowed himself to wrap an arm around her and noticed how she sighed in contentment. He swallowed hard at the physical reaction this simple sound caused and wondered how she came to be in his bed in the first place. He ran his eyes over her serene sleeping face and smiled at her hair, still lively – even in repose. He realized that his dream must have really happened. She must have come to comfort him in the midst of his nightmare. _How did she even know?_ he wondered until the obvious answer came to him. _Did you have something to do with this?_ he asked his ship and received the equivalent of a mental shrug in return. He sighed at the Old Girl's interference, but just closed his eyes again and tightened his grip on the young woman next to him. He had to admit that he wasn't entirely unhappy with the situation. He only hoped that Hermione would not be embarrassed or unhappy when she woke. Just then, a small movement under his arm caused his eyes to fly open and gaze right into the liquid warmth of a pair of deep brown ones. "Good morning," he said in a lighthearted tone designed to put her at ease. "I must say that this was an unexpected surprise." He watched as a gorgeous smile bloomed across her face at his words.

"Not an unpleasant one, though, I hope," she answered as she purposely snuggled closer to him. She threw her arm back over him, as well, and tucked her head under his chin.

"Not at all," he murmured, holding her as closely as he dared. He knew that this was not a good idea. However, it felt wonderful and he just couldn't bring himself to stop.

After a moment, she looked up, kissed his chin, and then pulled herself out of his embrace. As he looked at her with a puzzled expression, she muttered "loo," and escaped to her own room to take care of her morning business. He grinned with understanding. _Delicate little humans_ , he thought to himself. At that thought, his smiled faltered. He remembered that he and Hermione had to make some difficult decisions today. Therefore, he decided to go ahead and get ready for his day, as well. He reluctantly moved out of the warmth of his bed and he couldn't help but to wonder if the opportunity would ever arise for Hermione to be in it with him again.


	16. Her First Time

Hermione paced back and forth in the middle of her room and berated herself _. Not only did I kiss him last night, but I also crawled into his bed in the middle of the night, and snuggled with him this morning. What is he going to think of me?_ The TARDIS hummed comfortingly in her mind and she sent Hermione a picture of the two of them in the Doctor's bed this noticed how comfortable they both looked. Then her mind drifted to how wonderful it had felt in those few moments when they had their arms around each other before she had to get up. Well, at least he looked like he enjoyed it, too, and she was pretty sure that it had helped with his nightmares. Therefore, she decided not to worry about it anymore. Instead, she finished her morning routine and, since she didn't know what the day would bring, she dressed casually and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Then she headed off to the galley to prepare breakfast for the Doctor since he had handled dinner for her last night.

She had just finished setting the food out and wondered if she should ask the TARDIS to deliver a message to the Doctor that it was time to eat, when the alien himself finally showed up in the galley. He was wearing his usual outfit, but had switched out the black jumper for a dark green one. Hermione thought the color looked good on him and that it really brought out the color of his eyes. Before she could tell him so, however, he plucked a piece of fruit out of the bowl on the table and said, "I like bananas. Bananas are good!" She just had to snicker at how the dead seriousness of his tone contrasted with the silliness of the statement. However, he looked at her and placed a hand on his chest, as if he was wounded by her actions. "What?" he asked innocently. "They're a good source of potassium!" Her snicker then turned into a full-fledged belly laugh and she ended up laughing so hard that she had to hold on to the edge of the table to keep from falling over. She knew that what he had said wasn't really all that funny, but more and more of the horror and stress from the last few days seem to melt away with each laugh. Therefore, she let it all out. When she was finally able to regain control of herself, with the exception of just a few giggles, she looked up to see the Doctor smiling at her fondly. "Better?" he asked, fully understanding her need for release.

"Oh yes! Thank you, I needed that!" she said primly as she sat down at the table to eat. She looked up and met his eyes and he was the one to let out a bark of laughter this time. He then reached across the table to squeeze her hand. Then they were able to eat their breakfast in a comfortable companionable silence. Afterwards, she cleaned up with just a wave of her wand. He then offered her his hand and when she took it, he led her to the console room. When they got there, he directed her to the jumpseat and then he turned to face the console.

* * *

The Doctor still had no answers to Hermione's predicament. He knew what they would eventually have to do, to get the answers that they needed. However, he just couldn't bring himself to suggest it right now - knowing that the consequences would be dire for her – one way or the other. Therefore, he decided to do something else that he was very good at, instead. He was going to _stall_! He was going to distract her with some time and space travel! He told himself that it was for her own good and that it would give her more time to heal, both physically and emotionally. He told himself that she deserved a trip and he knew just the place! He told himself a lot of things and in the end…he just set the controls and flipped the switch to take them out of the Vortex for the first time in days. Then he turned around to face her and leaned up against the console, in what seemed to be his signature position - arms crossed over his chest and one booted foot over the other – and smiled at her.

"I think that we need a change of scenery. Plus, we are out of tea," he said simply. "We can't make any decisions without tea! Therefore, I am going to take you shopping." Then he watched with a smile as her eyes widened in understanding. Maybe he could surprise her, yet!

"Do you mean…?" she started to ask.

"Yep!" he replied, grinning widely now.

"Yay!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and clapped her hands like an excited child. "I didn't know if I would get the chance to do any traveling with you!" With those words, they both crashed down to the grating as the TARDIS roughly reached their destination.

"Sorry about that," he said, laughing, as he rolled over in her direction and stood up. He then offered her a hand to help her up, as well. "Rough landing - it happens sometimes!" Then he shrugged, as if it wasn't important.

"Hmm, only sometimes?" she asked with a smile on her face. The Doctor found that he could do nothing but return it when she then whispered with excitement. "Where are we? Ooh! _When_ are we?"

He led her to the door, still holding her hand. "Hermione Granger, outside these doors is Barcelona – the planet, not the city. It was colonized by humans about a thousand years ago. It's 6 pm on a Tuesday in October 5006. It's a market day, and Hermione…" he paused

"Yes, Doctor?" she asked, excitedly.

"They have dogs with no noses!" With that statement, he grinned and paused for a moment as if waiting for something.

"How do they smell?" she asked, catching on to what he wanted – mainly due to that contagious grin.

"Terrible!" he exclaimed and they both laughed at the very bad joke. He then opened the door and quickly pulled her outside where she stood blinking in the bright sunlight for the first time in days! She looked over to see the Doctor grinning at her and then she turned around, eager to see her friend, the TARDIS, for the first time.

"Sweet Merlin!" she exclaimed as she looked at the impossibly small blue Police Box. "That's brilliant!"

The TARDIS hummed in amusement and the Doctor laughed. "I had forgotten that you had not seen her, yet!" he admitted sheepishly. "What d'ya think?"

Hermione walked around the exterior and stopped to pat a blue paneled side before grinning. "She's multi-dimensional, right?" The Doctor nodded proudly at her intelligent deduction. "Okay, then. That explains the "bigger on the inside" issue. However, this…" she paused and gestured at the Police Box exterior. "I would say that it was some sort of urban camouflage, but we are in a field…on another planet… in the future! I don't think a Police Box is going to blend in here!" She looked at him questioningly.

"Well…you are definitely on the right track!" he said, looking sheepish again. "It's a chameleon circuit and it lets the TARDIS mimic her surroundings for camouflage purposes."

"But…?" Hermione prompted him, smiling.

"The circuit burned out once when I was visiting the 60's and I never fixed it. However, I like her this way!"

"Then so do I!" she exclaimed… and he beamed with delight.

"Good!" he exclaimed. "It doesn't matter anyway. You and I are probably the only ones who are going to see her. She has a perception filter built in, as well. Kind of like the ones that you used to hide your scars….but scientific - not magical! Therefore, nobody is going to notice her - unless they are specifically looking for her and even then…"

"Brilliant!" Hermione murmured again and patted the TARDIS. "You are just full of surprises, aren't you, Girl?"

"Well, now that we have that settled…I believe that it is time for you to …"

"…explore a new planet!" Hermione finished excitedly. Then she automatically reached up to pat her sleeve to reassure herself that her wand was still there. "Is is safe?" she asked seriously.

"Hermione, I wouldn't purposely bring you somewhere unsafe – especially not for your first time. I do sometimes have a knack for finding trouble, but this planet…at this time…is very safe. That's why I picked it. I just want for you to enjoy yourself," he said sincerely.

"Well, then, come show me a good time...for my first time!" she exclaimed in an overly flirtatious manner, giving him big moon eyes, and fluttering her lashes. He just laughed, grabbed her hand, and turned towards civilization.


	17. Barcelona

Hermione and the Doctor tumbled into the TARDIS and the ship slammed the door shut behind them.

"Will these doors hold?" Hermione asked exhaustedly, her worry evident as she dripped green goo onto the grating. The Doctor reassured her as he went immediately to the console to send the TARDIS into the Vortex and out of harm's way.

"I will have you know that the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through those doors, and believe me, they've tried…" the Doctor said while Hermione just shook her head at him.

"Why? Did you get them covered in giant slug slime, too?" she asked reproachfully, but with a twinkle in her eyes. Now that she knew they were all out of danger, the whole situation seemed quite ridiculous! "This planet…at this time…is very safe," she said in a slightly mocking sing-song voice trying to wring the slime out of her hair before giving up with a look of disgust on her face and pulling out her wand. "Tergeo," she said loudly as she pointed her wand at the Doctor.

He saw what she was doing and threw his hands up in defense. "Now Hermione, how could I possibly know that the migration…" He stopped what he was saying, suddenly amazed, as he realized that he was no longer covered in slime. He was still sticky, but completely slime-free! Then he watched as she turned the wand on herself and siphoned off the slime with the same spell. Then she did the same for the mess they had made on the grating in the console room.

"Sorry, TARDIS dear. I hope that you know that this wasn't my fault," she said to the ship who responded reassuringly with a wave of goodwill and forgiveness. She knew very well whose fault it was. It certainly wasn't the first time and she doubted that it would be the last, either.

The Doctor just shook his head and wondered how the day had gone so wrong.

* * *

Their trip had started out so pleasantly. They took advantage of the extra-long Barcelona day and walked the short distance to the town and its market. Hermione practically skipped with excitement while the Doctor watched her fondly. When they arrived, Hermione quietly marveled at the perfect beauty of the native people there. The Doctor proceeded to explain that by the 51st century, humans had mastered both genetic manipulation and engineering. Therefore, they had long healthy life spans and could basically look any way that they chose to at any stage of their life. The Doctor then reminded her that the Nutristrips that she had taken during her recovery were developed in the 51st century – which is why they worked so quickly and efficiently for her.

Instead of reassuring her, this news seemed to worry Hermione a little. "Won't we stand out then? Well…you are quite nice looking, so you might pass as a native. However, there is no way that anyone could mistake me for one of the perfect-looking inhabitants!" she exclaimed enviously, as she tried to smooth down her unruly hair that was already rapidly escaping from its ponytail.

Even while his hearts leaped because she had once again called him attractive, he realized that she had no idea how pretty she was herself. Well, he would set her straight on that point immediately! "First of all, Hermione, the _only_ difference that I see between their engineered beauty and your natural look is the fact that you are still a bit thin from your ordeal. However, as you continue to gain in strength and health, nobody will be able to distinguish you from one of these so-called perfect natives!" He noticed her pleased blush at his words, but he didn't mention it because he didn't want to embarrass her. "Plus, I think that your hair is _amazing_ … for a human, anyway," he added to lighten the moment. It must have worked because she stuck her tongue out at him.

He laughed and continued, "Secondly, this is the 51st century, remember. Humans have not only mastered space travel themselves, hence their colonization of Barcelona, but they are also quite familiar with many other alien species who have done so, as well. Therefore, they are used to all kinds of _people_ – including _visitors_ to this planet. Therefore, even if we looked vastly different, they wouldn't even bat an eye at our presence. In fact, I would be very surprised it we don't run into several other sentient species before we leave today – especially since the markets of Barcelona are well known for their interstellar ship parts. I haven't seen any visitors, yet, but the official visitors' _parking lot_ is in the opposite direction from where we left the TARDIS. Therefore, I am sure that we will meet somebody interesting when we get closer to that side of town.

He was correct! In fact, their first stop was the tea merchant – where they picked out several exotic blends as well as a few standard ones. Hermione was also quite amused to find out that basic Earl Grey was still around – even this far into the future. Then, her first alien interaction (besides the Doctor and the TARDIS, of course) occurred as they were exiting. Hermione accidently bumped into a tall, blue-skinned, and four-armed _man_ that smiled gently at her stammered apology.

"I am honored to be accosted by one of such beauty, gentle lady," he replied courteously - in what sounded like perfect English - until Hermione remembered that the TARDIS was probably translating for her. However, she still blushed – especially when he bowed before turning and continuing on his way.

"Wow!" Hermione mumbled, her face still pink. The Doctor noticed this with some unhappiness since he wasn't the one to put the blush there in the first place. Therefore, he just glared at the alien's retreating back and muttered something disgustedly that sounded a lot like "blue pretty boy!" Afterwards, they continued on with their shopping and visited several more vendors to pick up some basic supplies and parts for the TARDIS. Along the way, they ran into other extraplanetary visitors. The Doctor was pleased to note that, after getting over the initial embarrassment of her first interaction, Hermione took the rest of the meetings in stride. She walked arm in arm with the Doctor and he occasionally leaned over to whisper in her ear the name of a particular species or to give helpful little hints about appropriate social interaction, such as "Try not to look the Slighorn in the eye. That is considered a deadly insult!" or "Be sure to shake only the third finger, not the whole hand, of a Fimmley - or he will think that you are asking him to marry you!" She took all of these suggestions to heart – especially when he steered her away from what looked like a giant bipedal weasel. "Felicities, despite their name, are _not_ known for their sweet kind-hearted natures- especially when it comes to females of a different species," he said while sending a warning glare back at the furry alien who seemed to be watching Hermione interestedly. The Felicity eventually got the message, however, and wandered off to look elsewhere when he realized that this particular female had already been claimed.

At the café where they stopped to eat lunch, Hermione also finally met the acquaintance of several very friendly and, apparently insatiably hungry, members of the canine family for which Barcelona was known. The dogs belonged to the owners of the establishment and roamed the café freely and begged for treats from the diners. Hermione was completely entranced by their charms as they rubbed their noseless snouts all over her and wagged their tails happily. Therefore, she fed them several tidbits from her own plate, even though their rounded bellies proved that they didn't need the extra food. As Hermione stroked the ginger-colored fur of a particularly pudgy dog, her mind turned towards her beloved Crookshanks. She had no idea what had happened to him after she had left him with the Weasleys before she went on the Horcrux hunt. She knew that he was an excellent hunter and could take care of himself - as his battle scars attested. Plus, he had probably already charmed his way into another household. However, she still missed him immensely. The Doctor noticed tears in her eyes as she bent down to give the dog a hug and told him to be a good boy as they were leaving. He then realized that she must be remembering her pet from back home. He knew that even the little losses hurt, and so he was happy to see that she was able to smile a little when the dog licked her cheek as she turned away. However, she remained a little subdued for the rest of their walk. The Doctor understood and just tried to keep up a cheerful commentary for her.

The Doctor wanted to visit one more vendor to pick up a special kind of lubricant for the delicate parts under the TARDIS's console. While he was paying for his purchase, the vendor asked Hermione if she had ever seen the Vandelvorm migration. When Hermione replied that she had not, the man excitedly explained that once every ten years or so the giant native slug-like worms migrated over the entire continent from one ocean to the other to breed – only for the next generation to repeat the process, but in the opposite direction, ten years later. They took the same exact path for every migration, which was good, because they left a trail of slime so thick, wide, and deep that none of the land in the path could be used for several years afterwards. The Vandelvorms were also so large and strong that they destroyed anything in their way. That's why the Barcelonians just left the migration path as empty fields most of the time. Hermione listened interestedly and even the Doctor admitted that he had never heard of this occurrence before. However, alarm bells went off in Hermione's head when the vendor said the migration always happened in the fields on the north side of the town and that was why they had built the space port on the south side.

"Doctor," she whispered hoarsely. "That's where we parked the TARDIS."

He immediately understood her concern and turned to the vendor, "When is the next migration due to occur?" he asked. The vendor explained the migration was supposed to start passing through their local area at any time in the next day or so…if it had not done so, already!

There was no response to this except for the Doctor to grab Hermione's hand and to tell her with urgency, "Run!"

* * *

By the time that they got closer to the area where they had left the TARDIS, Hermione was completely spent. Her recent injuries and malnutrition had taken their toll on her body and it was going to take some time before she got back into tip-top shape again.

The Doctor noticed her physical distress. "Take a moment and rest," he said with concern as they both eyed the sight in front of them with uneasiness. "We've got to figure this mess out, anyway."

Just as they feared, the migration had already reached them. In fact, the path of the giant caravan-sized Vandelvorms stretched as far as the eye could see and completely separated them from the TARDIS. She was safe for the moment, right outside of the slime path. However, the giant slug worms were moving much faster than anything that big and bulky had the right to and it would only take one to slightly veer off of the path to wipe the TARDIS out. Unfortunately, though, the Doctor and Hermione would have to both dodge the giant Vandelvorms and also cross the river of slime to get over to her.

"Ugh," groaned Hermione, still trying to catch her breath. "They are like giant flobberworms!" When the Doctor looked at her questioningly, she clarified. "Big worms known for the magical properties of their mucus. It's a common ingredient in a lot of potions. However, harvesting it is no fun – just like crossing _that_ isn't going to be much fun, either." She looked at the huge slime path gloomily.

She pulled out her wand and twirled it through her fingers, while deep in thought. She took a few more deep breaths and realized another thing that she was in need of in her temporarily weakened state. "Aguamenti," she said clearly. As the fountain of clear cool water spouted from the end of her wand, she took a long drink and then invited the Doctor to do so as well. He looked at her in amazement before taking her up on the offer. It certainly was convenient to have a witch around sometimes!

The moment of rest and the water helped Hermione to regain her equilibrium and she finally felt able to tackle the problem head on. She turned to speak to the Doctor who had been trying in vain to discover an answer to their problem while she had been recovering. "I'm going to try to get a bit closer," she said. Not bothering to wait for an answer, she transfigured a stick into a small cup, darted over to the migration path, watched the flow of slug traffic for a moment, and then scooped up a small bit of slime before coming back to stand next to the Doctor. He dipped a finger into the cup and then sniffed the contents reflectively.

"I don't think that it is poisonous or dangerous," he said contemplatively. Hermione followed his lead and noticed that the slime was very thin in consistency instead of the thick goo that she had been expecting.

"I think we can wade through this," she said and sighed at the thought of getting all of that goo out of her hair afterwards. "Also, I watched the Vandelvorms and, even though they are fast, there are gaps between them. If we are very careful, we should be able to zigzag our way across the path – in between the creatures – just like a giant life-size game of Frogger!" At the Doctor's puzzled look, she added, "It's an old video game where a frog has to cross a road while dodging heavy traffic."

The Doctor nodded his understanding and realized that she had purposely not told him what happened to the frog if it didn't make it through the traffic. "It's the best plan that we've got," he said thoughtfully. "Let's do it!"

Hermione took a moment to affix her wand to her hand with a sticking charm. "I don't want to lose it in the muck, but I don't want to put it away because we might need it," she said to the Doctor after his inquiring look.

He nodded again and took her free hand in his. "Ready?" he asked with a look of concern for her in his eyes. Then he seemed to reconsider for a moment. "Why don't you stay here? Or better yet, go back to the market. I will get across to the TARDIS and then we will come back for you."

Hermione was already shaking her head in disagreement before he had even finished his sentence. "No way! We are in this together!" She smiled wanly up at him. "We'll be fine," she then added with bravado. They then walked hand in hand up to the slime path and then, after one more reassuring look at each other, jumped into the first gap that they saw between the slug worms. Hermione gasped as she sunk into the slime up to her knees. "I didn't know it would be so deep!" she cried out as she struggled to move. The Doctor was better off since he was taller and the slime was only halfway up his calves. Therefore, after a little adjustment, he found that he was able to weave through the oncoming slime creatures and tow her easily along behind him -especially after she had the idea to place a weight-lightening charm on herself. This arrangement worked very well until they were about halfway across the giant slime path and the Doctor stepped into a deep slime pocket and fell – taking Hermione with him. She managed to get upright just as a Vandelvorm was rapidly approaching. She pointed her wand at the Doctor and screamed, "Locomotor." He was then shocked to suddenly find himself hovering about a foot over the slime while Hermione actually directed his movements with her wand. She was still being "towed" behind him but the Doctor could tell maintaining the different spells was taking a toll on her. They needed to finish getting across the path quickly before her energy was completely depleted. Therefore, he started calling out the directions to her. That way, she could focus on her wand work and not the Vandelvorms.

"Right!...Left!...Left!...Right!" he called down to her. She trusted that he was steering them correctly and moved her wand accordingly. After a while, it even started feeling like a video game and she grinned with every successful dodge and weave.

Finally, they reached the TARDIS and with a muttered "Finite Incantatem" to end the spells, they both tumbled through her blue doors to safety.

* * *

In the end, he just sighed. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I just wanted for you to have a good time on your first trip."

"Are you kidding, Doctor? That was the most fun that I have had in a long time!" she exclaimed, grinning cheerfully since she was no longer covered in goo. "I'm going to go take a shower now, though. I usually prefer my fun to be a little less messy! I want to try out some of that new tea - in the library - when I am finished, though." She threw a cheeky little kiss over her shoulder to him as she headed off down a corridor to her room.

His eyes followed her with pride. He should have known that a little bit of slime couldn't keep a woman like Hermione down for long. He then checked the controls to make sure that they were safely floating in the Vortex before he headed off to take a shower himself. He tried very hard not to think about the fact that Hermione was showering right on the other side of the wall – unaware that she was thinking the exact same thing about him.


	18. Broken Ones

The shower did make Hermione feel better – especially when she thought about the man whom she could hear showering right on the other side of the wall. However, those _pleasant_ thoughts were interrupted when Hermione realized with dismay that even though the slimy goo was gone from the surface of her hair, it was still layered throughout it underneath. Therefore, she had to tediously separate her hair into sections and then wash each section thoroughly in order to remove all of it. Even through her annoyance, however, Hermione still had to laugh out loud when the TARDIS touched her thoughts and implied that this sort of thing happened all of the time for them – so she had better get used to it!

After her shower, she continued to think about having adventures with the Doctor when she noticed that her muscles were a little sore, and would probably be even more so tomorrow. However, despite that, she felt better, physically, than she had in a long time. The exercise, the adrenaline, - and _yes_ \- the company, had all combined to give her a bit of a physical buzz that she hadn't felt in a while – and she liked it! However, she knew that she needed to build up her endurance again, so that she wouldn't tire as easily as she had during the run from the town to the field. _What I need is a gym and a pool_ _,_ she thought. _Some daily sparring and_ _a run followed by a swim, would tone my muscles nicely_. Just then the TARDIS started to hum excitedly and flashed Hermione a picture.

"You have one!" exclaimed Hermione. "That's fantastic! Can you show me? Right now?"

* * *

The Doctor waited in the library for Hermione for quite a while before he started to get worried. He sent a mental inquiry out to his ship and received only a vague answer in return – as if her main consciousness was occupied elsewhere. Therefore, he set out to find out just what his girls were up to.

He went by Hermione's room first, but she wasn't there. Therefore, he followed his ship's stream of consciousness until he found himself in a corridor that he had not been down in a long time. In fact, he had _never_ been there in his current body. Suddenly, he heard a blasting sound, followed by a shout. There was a door in front of him and when he hurriedly opened it, he found himself in a gym – complete with running track, a pool, and _Hermione._ She was off to one side, which had been set up as sparring area, and she was facing several dummies. She had apparently animated them so that she could fight with them – magically. She was obviously throwing spells at them and dodging spells that they sent at her in return. He watched as she put one after the other out of commission and felt quite impressed by her technique and skill – just as he had while watching her memories of the battle. She shouted and laughed every time a dummy went down, and the Doctor honestly would have thought that she was enjoying herself, if it had not been for the tears streaming down her face at the same time…

Therefore, he waited until she was finished. When she blasted the last dummy into a smoldering pile and then fell into a sobbing heap onto the floor herself, he went and gathered her up into his arms and just held her. As badly as he wanted to, he knew that there was nothing that he could do to help her. For a while _, everything_ was going to remind her of her loss. Only time would help… and even then, it would only dull the ache. He knew this from experience. All he could do was show her that she wasn't alone and that someone…cared…about her.

"What do you need, dear girl?" he asked gently when she had cried herself out. She looked up at him, her eyes still wet with tears, but a small smile touched her lips as she looked at the kind, understanding alien who held her.

"I'm British," she reminded him. "Therefore, I need tea."

"Then tea you shall have!" he exclaimed as he grinned down at her and hugged her. He was so very happy that she was able to retain her cheekiness- even through her pain. He knew very well that sometimes retreating into humor was the only thing that you could do. He helped her up and then held her hand as they walked the convoluted route back to the library.

* * *

Once in the library, Hermione thanked the TARDIS profusely when she noticed that the tea tray was already waiting for them. She didn't say anything else until she was on her second cup, however. She finally felt well enough to talk by then. She turned to look at the Doctor, who was sitting in the same place as last time, and watching over her. "This is good tea," she mentioned casually to set him at ease and let him know that she was all right now. "Lucky for us that you had those weird alien pockets of yours to store everything in – or else it would have all been destroyed by the slime."

He was very happy that she felt better. Therefore, he just nodded and grinned at her silly terminology. "They aren't just _weird alien pockets_ _,_ you are also transdimensional," he said, still smiling. "They are bigger on the inside – just like the TARDIS." She nodded in understanding as his words tickled at something in the back of her memory. However, try as she might, she couldn't quite remember what it was at the moment. Therefore, she changed the subject and hoped that it would come to her later.

"Why didn't you tell me that you had a gym?" she asked him curiously.

He wasn't expecting that question and his smile fell from his face as he looked at her blankly for a moment before answering. "I had forgotten all about it," he finally said, honestly. "I haven't explored the ship in a _long_ time and, therefore, I don't really know what rooms that we still have. I know that the Old Girl took most of the nonessential spaces off-line during the war, so that she wouldn't have to maintain them and could focus all of her energy on what really needed to be done. I just assumed that she had deleted them permanently." He looked off in the distance and his eyes were glazed and unfocused as he continued to speak. "I've been alone ever since then and found that I only needed the basics – plus the library, of course – in order to live comfortably. Therefore, I never went in search of any of the old rooms."

Hermione's breath hitched sharply at the mention of _his_ war. It was only the second time that he had vaguely referred to it and she wondered if he would say more. After a moment, though, it became obvious that he wasn't going to and she really didn't blame him. However, one thing stood out in his statement… _I've been alone ever since then_ … and her heart went out to him. The poor man…no wonder he had been so understanding and gentle with her this entire time. He understood what she was going through because he had been through it himself! However, _he_ had done it _alone_ – with only the TARDIS for support! Well, that was about to change!

She reached out and took his hand. "Maybe we could explore her together."

This brought him out of his daze. "I'd like that," he said with a little smile at the thoughtful woman next to him. "In fact, let's do it tomorrow!" he said with more enthusiasm and then squeezed her hand in anticipation. "Right now, however, you need some food and then some sleep – Doctor's orders!"

She couldn't help but to smile at his silly little joke and he couldn't help but to smile at the fact that she was smiling. Then, hand in hand they walked to the galley and made a simple meal together. While they ate, they made some light conversation and discussed the various species that they had met in the town. The only species from the day that he hadn't encountered before were the Vandelvorms, but he was well acquainted with all of the others. In fact, the Doctor was able to provide additional information and stories about each of them. Hermione marveled at the sheer amount of knowledge that he held and started wondering for the first time about exactly how old he was. He had certainly accumulated more knowledge than she would have thought possible in one lifetime. However, she had to remember that he was an _alien. Maybe his species is exceptionally long-lived or maybe they have vast instinctual knowledge with which they are born,_ she thought _._ Her intellectual mind desperately wanted to know. However, his _alone_ comment from earlier prevented her from asking. He obviously wasn't ready to tell her about his people or planet, yet. Therefore, as a friend, she wouldn't cause him additional pain by forcing him to do so - until he was ready – _if_ he ever was.

* * *

Even though he didn't know the extent of how thoughtful her behavior at dinner had been, he returned the favor later that night when she showed up at his bedroom door several hours after she had gone to bed. She was wearing a pair of rumpled pajamas and her hair was very tousled, so he quickly realized that she had been tossing and turning the entire time. He didn't say anything, however. He just scooted over and lifted up the edge of the blanket as a silent invitation. Without a word herself, she climbed into the bed, kissed his cheek in thanks, and then snuggled up against him with her back to his front. He draped his arm over her and they both sighed with the comfort that such simple contact brought to them.

Then the two broken ones, who were starting to realize that they felt a lot less broken when they were together, both fell asleep within minutes.


	19. Explorations

Hermione woke the next morning to find out that she was alone. The Doctor had told her before that he only needed a couple hours of sleep every night. Therefore, even though she was a bit disappointed, she was not really surprised when she realized that he was already gone.

She stretched luxuriously and realized that once she had found herself in the Doctor's arms, she had actually experienced a good night's sleep with no nightmares. This led her directly into thoughts of their plans for the day. She was really looking forward to exploring the TARDIS with him, so she jumped up to get ready. After a quick shower, she threw on a casual outfit that would be good for exploring and also for a run afterwards. Then, after asking the TARDIS as to where to find their alien friend, she headed down the corridor to the console room.

The Doctor was under the console and she could hear the buzzing sound of his sonic screwdriver. She smiled to herself as she realized that he always had the handy little tool with him and that he used it for everything. In fact, it really seemed to be the scientific equivalent of her wand. He would be just as lost without it as she would without that wooden extension of herself. She smiled again at that thought and then decided, since she was in no hurry, just to sit on the jumpseat and see how long it took him to realize that she was there.

* * *

The Doctor had awakened several hours earlier to find his arms full of Hermione. Somehow, in their sleep, they had shifted position and he now found himself on his back with Hermione's head on his chest, one of her arms thrown over his stomach, and her other one tucked up underneath her somewhere. Both of his arms were wrapped around her, though, and he couldn't help but to smile at how wonderful it felt for her to be there. He continued to lay there for a while longer – just holding her tight and enjoying her presence, but decided to get up when his thoughts about her started drifting down a completely different path – again! He was furious with himself, though. Hermione had come to him for comfort, not to be the subject of his inappropriate thoughts! She trusted him as a friend and he refused to consider that she might actually want more from him than that. Therefore, self-recrimination drove him from his own bed and he decided to distract himself from his own thoughts by tinkering under the TARDIS's console.

After several hours, hunger finally drove him to pocket the sonic screwdriver. Before he could exit his work area, though, his thoughts, as usual, drifted back to Hermione. He was surprised that she wasn't up, yet, making her presence known in the way that only she could. The thought of her bouncing into the console room with her lively hair floating all around her made him smile. This made him think about how nursing her back to health and comforting her through her grief had caused them to grow so close so quickly – especially since her arrival had finally forced him to connect with someone after his own tragedy. He was also smart enough to realize that just having her on board had helped him to experience some happiness again. He sighed - if only he could content himself with being her friend and stop himself from wanting more from her. She didn't need a battle-scarred warrior, he kept telling himself. She had demons of her own to fight. Therefore, he couldn't use her to drive away his own. Despite his internal struggle over this, though, he knew that every single time those warm brown eyes looked up at him, another little bit of his shattered soul was patched back together! With that thought, he shook himself out of his reverie and finally pushed out from under the console – only to find himself looking up into that very same pair of eyes – attached to the beautiful smiling face that almost always seemed to be in his thoughts now.

* * *

"Well, hello!" that smiling face said as its owner reached down to offer the Doctor a hand up. "I was wondering when you were going to resurface!"

"How long have you been there?" the Doctor asked back, just a little gruffly since he didn't like to be taken by surprise. However, he found that he couldn't help smiling back as he took the offered hand and realized that she had actually been waiting for him.

"Ooo, Mr. Grumpy Pants must not have gotten enough sleep last night," she teased – not at all bothered by his initial grouchiness – not when it was followed by a smile that lit up his handsome face like that! "You shouldn't have gotten up so early then," she continued in the same lighthearted vein. "I missed you, by the way" she then added, almost shyly. However, she had turned away by then, leading him by the hand towards the galley. Therefore, she was completely unaware of how those words affected him.

He followed behind her, his thoughts aflame with what she had just said. She had _missed_ him! She had missed _him_! Even though she had lost everything, _he_ was the one about whom she had been thinking this morning. He soon realized with some surprise that the feeling was mutual. He had missed her, too – which is why he had spent almost the entire time under the console thinking about her.

He just couldn't bring himself to tell her, though.

* * *

After a breakfast filled with companionable conversation between the two of them (with occasional input from the TARDIS), it was time to explore! The Doctor and Hermione soon found themselves hand in hand heading down a corridor that was completely unfamiliar to Hermione and one that the Doctor had not seen for so long that he could barely remember what was located there. Even the TARDIS was excited. She wanted to show off the rooms that she had kept safe for so long – until her Thief was ready for them again! Perhaps through their explorations, both he and his Witch would be able to find some distraction from their pain.

The TARDIS's plan worked – for a while, at least. The two of them wandered around happily for hours – sometimes finding rooms that the Doctor didn't remember or even know about in the first place. They spent time in the observatory, laboratory, music room, and art studio. They even found a ballroom where Hermione teased the Doctor mercilessly, but ultimately in vain, to show her some of his _moves_. At the sight of the sparkle in her eyes and the mischievous grin on her lips, however, those words took on a completely different meaning for him. If only she knew had badly he wanted to take her up on _that_ offer! Through a Herculean amount of effort, however, he barely managed to resist the urge to take her into his arms and _dance_ with her. Instead, he tried to content himself with holding the tempting witch's hand as they continued to follow the corridor out to one more room. However, this time he paused with one hand on the door latch before going in. Hermione looked at him curiously but didn't say anything since he seemed to be deep in thought.

Finally, he spoke. "Is this what I think it is, Old Girl?" he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

His ship hummed her affirmation and Hermione watched as the alien squared his shoulders and opened the door. She didn't know what to expect after such an introduction, but it certainly wasn't the beautiful meadow that appeared before their eyes!

The Doctor was strangely silent as they entered the room and wandered down a few very natural looking paths that were surrounded by gorgeous flowers and lush plants. Hermione didn't recognize most of them, so she assumed that they were not from Earth. The Doctor barely glanced at them, however. He kept his gaze focused straight ahead at what she assumed was their destination. His grip on her hand grew almost painfully tight as they drew closer to the large beautiful silver-leafed tree which, as far as Hermione could tell, was located in the very center of the Meadow room.

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at it. When he didn't say anything, she broke the silence. "It's beautiful. What is it?" she asked quietly.

"It is called an Arborus Argentum and it is native to my home planet," he replied softly. He let go of her hand and slowly approached the tree. He tentatively reached out with one hand to stroke its thick straight trunk. Then he unexpectedly let out a strangled sob as he leaned his forehead against it. Hermione immediately reached out for him, but he stopped her with an outstretched arm.

"No!" He wouldn't look at her, but he spoke firmly. Hermione froze, but after just a moment he continued, in a more broken tone this time. "I'm sorry…please…"

She knew instinctively what he was trying to say. "It's okay, Doctor," she replied as calmly as she could. She realized that as much as she wanted to hold him and comfort him right now, he needed to be on his own in order to face whatever was eating away at his soul. "I understand. I will give you some time. Just let the TARDIS know if you need me, and I will be here!" With those words, she walked back towards the door. However, after a few steps, she spared a backwards glance at her friend…and almost wished that she hadn't. Her heart broke for him as she saw one of the strongest people she had ever known fall slowly to his knees in front of the tree – his eyes swimming with unshed tears that were just starting to spill over.

* * *

Author's Note:

Those of you who are readers of my _Saving the Multiverse_ series probably recognized some of my descriptions of the various TARDIS rooms because they also appeared in "The Third Doctor." ;)


	20. Realizations

Hermione was so deep in thought that she barely noticed where her feet were headed as she wound her way back across the ship to the galley. She realized later that the TARDIS must have been guiding her subconsciously because she certainly would have gotten lost, otherwise. She had been completely immersed in her ponderings because she was beginning to understand what must have happened to her dear friend. She thought she had finally solved the mystery about why he was alone and why he had just become so emotional over something as simple as a tree – and the realization was both horrifying and heartbreaking to her! It put her losses – as catastrophic as they were – into perspective and she realized that he probably needed her even more than she needed him – and every day she was becoming more and more aware of exactly how much _that_ was! She also knew that she would have to eventually face down her own demons as soon as she felt strong enough - and she didn't really know how that would end – or where it would lead her. However, until then at least, she promised herself that she would be here for the Doctor in any way that he needed her!

* * *

She had a quick meal spent in the silent, but comforting, presence of the ship. However, Hermione could tell that the TARDIS's main consciousness was elsewhere, so she just knew without a doubt that the Old Girl was still keeping vigil over the Doctor, as well. After eating, she waited for a little while until it became clear that the Doctor wasn't going to join her. She was disappointed, but she completely understood. She knew that there were just some things that you had to do on your own…and that you couldn't rush them. Therefore, she just sighed and put his food under a stasis spell so that he could eat it whenever he was ready.

She then decided that it would be a good time for that run she had planned. Therefore, she took off in the direction where she remembered finding the gym on the previous day and was happy to discover that she was able to find her way back there without any problems. She glanced over at the sparring mats and was gratified, and a little embarrassed, to see that someone - probably the TARDIS - had cleaned up the mess that she had made the night before. _None of that today,_ she promised herself, and looked at the running track instead. She did her mandatory pre-run stretching routine and allowed herself a moment of regret that she had not arranged for some kind of workout music. Just then she felt the TARDIS touch her mind and the upbeat strains of her favorite exercise tunes filled the air. Hermione was able to send the ship her sincere thanks before the Old Girl's consciousness left again, just as quickly as it had arrived. The witch allowed herself a small smile at the thought that the TARDIS seemed to be keeping an eye on both of her occupants in turn. She only hoped that the Doctor was doing okay and would join her soon. She then shook all of the negative thoughts out of her mind, focused it on the music and the track instead, and just _ran_!

She ran until she just couldn't run anymore. She knew that such actions would cause her to be sore tomorrow, but she also knew that it would be worth it in the long run when she built her endurance back up. She then proceeded to do her cool down stretching while she looked longingly at the pool and wished she had brought a suit. However, she soon realized that her sports bra and panties would work just as well – especially since she was alone. Therefore, she slipped out of her sweaty clothes and slid her overheated body into the crisp coolness of the water. She sighed at the sensation of being gently enveloped by it before completing a few leisurely laps, but was careful to not overexert herself again after her hard run. An indeterminate amount of time later, she went to climb out of the pool and smiled at the large towel waiting for her there. Apparently, the TARDIS had _visited_ her again and anticipated her need – even though she had been too wrapped up in her exercise to notice.

Even though the gym was equipped with shower facilities, she decided to head back to her room to clean up there. She didn't have any clean clothes with her and she didn't want to take the TARDIS's attention away from the Doctor by asking for some _nor_ did she want to parade around the ship naked. Therefore, she decided to just keep her wet undies on and proceeded to dry them with a useful spell she had learned after the Weasley twins had gone through a period of thinking that charmed water buckets on the tops of doors was a hilarious idea for a prank! Hermione then paused in surprise as she realized that she was actually able to smile at that memory, rather than cry over it. _Maybe I am beginning to heal,_ she thought optimistically. Then she wrapped the towel around herself before muttering the same spell to dry the floor behind her as she left the gym and went back to the bedroom corridor.

After a hot shower, she felt fantastic – physically, at least. She was tired after her workout, but her body also practically thrummed with excess energy. Her mind then drifted as she thought of some very pleasant ways in which she could expend all of it – if she just had the right partner. That, of course, made her think of the Doctor! However, just as soon as she thought of him, sadness and self-recrimination quickly descended upon her as she realized how inappropriate those kind of thoughts were at the present time! She squashed the naughty ideas that had just started forming in her mind as she remembered that the Doctor was obviously in mourning. Plus, the fact that the TARDIS was still preoccupied, proved that he was still working through his…problems…as well. Therefore, Hermione was torn. Even when she disregarded the physical nature of her previous thoughts, she still wanted to go to him and comfort him as a friend. However, she wanted to respect his privacy at the same time. She knew, however, that she really didn't want to inflict her presence on him if he didn't want to see her. Therefore, she decided to play it safe and go prepare some dinner instead. Once in the galley, she frowned when she found his lunch, still in stasis, on the table. However, she left it there – just in case. Then she went ahead and prepared her dinner, ate it in the galley, and then left the Doctor's dinner in stasis – right next to his lunch. That way he could decide what he wanted to eat – whenever he was ready to do so.

After cleaning up the mess that she had made, she decided to retire to the library for the evening. She knew that the Doctor would know to look for her there if he wanted to see her. Therefore, she browsed the shelves until she found a multi-planetary cultural section. Remembering the blue, four-armed, and extremely polite alien that she had met on the previous day, she selected a book about the Tripurlians. Therefore, she was able to distract herself for a couple of hours by relaxing on the comfortable sofa as she read about the courteous species. By the time she had finished the book, however, it became painfully obvious that the Doctor wasn't going to put in an appearance while she was in the library, either.

Consequently, she decided to go to bed and reluctantly headed for her room. After she had performed her usual nighttime routines, she slipped between her sheets and soon fell asleep while thinking about how she was going to approach the Doctor the next day. She refused to allow him to spend another day in solitude – whether he wanted to or not! Fortunately, however, she didn't have to put any of her tentative plans into motion because a couple of hours later, the door to her room slowly swung open. The small sound caused Hermione to awaken instantly because, even though she had healed physically, her survival instincts were still battle-sharp from her year on the run. Therefore, she was awake enough to be able to repay the previous night's favor by wordlessly holding up the edge of her blanket to allow her visitor access to _her_ bed this time. Once he had slid in beside her, she silently wrapped her arms around him and even hooked her leg over his in order to pull him even closer - while he buried his face into her hair and tried not to lose his composure again. Without a word, she held him that way until his even breathing proved that he had finally fallen asleep! Only then did she allow her grip on him to loosen slightly as she slipped back into slumber herself.


	21. His Perspective

The Doctor had no idea how long that he had knelt by that tree and been consumed by his grief or how long he had been immersed in his thoughts of Gallifrey and the family and friends that he had lost there. All he knew is that eventually his tears stopped, he was able to pick his head up, and he realized that the TARDIS had stayed with him throughout the entire ordeal. He sent waves of gratitude to his ship and she returned waves of affection back to him. Then, his very next thoughts were of Hermione. He regretted sending her away, even though he knew that she, of all people, would understand. The regret was even sharper when he realized that he longed to be in her arms, and knew that even if she couldn't make him forget, then at least she could help him to feel something besides pain again. The longing suddenly grew so intense that he actually found himself on his feet and heading towards the door before he realized it.

Before he could go in search of her, however, a cold realization swept over him. He could not allow himself to get attached to this woman. She was a weakness, a chink in his armor. She was also human…one of the shortest lived of all sentient species. How could he have forgotten that, in one way or the other, she would be gone in a blink of an eye? Then he would be alone again. He knew that he couldn't bear another loss. He was already a devastated shell – anything else could conceivably end him. Therefore, he had to withdraw, before his emotions became too entangled. He could be friends with the fascinating young witch, but nothing else. Anything else would hurt too much when it invariably ended. He had to protect himself from more of this kind of pain. He had to protect her, too. After all she had been through, she deserved so much more. Therefore, he would not go to her – no matter how much he wanted or needed to do so.

Instead he asked the TARDIS about Hermione's whereabouts and he was flashed a picture of her in bed. Was it that late? Had he really spent most of the day in such deep grief that he, the Time Lord, had not noticed the passage of time? He then asked the TARDIS what else the young woman had done throughout the day and a set of images, in quick succession, flew through his consciousness. Hermione having lunch, running, swimming, showering, having dinner, and reading in the library. The TARDIS slowed down the library scenes so that the Doctor could easily see how often Hermione looked at the door, awaiting his arrival in vain, until she finally gave up to go to bed. With this proof that she desired his company as much as he did hers, his new resolve was tested. He realized that he wanted nothing more but to go and crawl into bed with her and sleep in her arms as they had done so for the past couple of nights. _Weakness!_ he reminded himself fiercely and decided to go to the galley and distract himself with some food instead. After all, it felt like an eternity had passed since he and Hermione had consumed their cheerful and carefree breakfast together. Therefore, he set off across the ship.

As he neared the corridor where their bedrooms were located, his willpower waned again. However, he just squared his shoulders and kept on going until he reached the galley. There he saw the two plates of food that Hermione had prepared for him throughout the day and had obviously placed under some kind of preservation spell until he was ready to eat. He sampled from both plates and then cleaned up – all while thinking about the witch aboard his ship. Try as he might, he couldn't remember anyone who treated him with as much thoughtfulness as she did – without any expectation of return! With that thought, his carefully constructed resolve completely crumbled, and he found that he just couldn't help himself as he turned back towards the bedrooms.

That wonderful woman's wordless welcome and close comfort affected him so much that he had to fight to compose himself. He cursed his weakness again as he buried himself into her arms and her hair. However, it wasn't long before the _Essence of Hermione_ did its job and he was able to fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next morning, he woke rested, comforted, and yet still completely ashamed of himself for giving into what (or whom) he now considered to be his weakness - Hermione. However, he then looked down at the woman still wrapped around him and wondered how he had ever thought that he would be able to stay away from her. _Nothing has changed_ , he tried to convince himself. _She is still human…and temporary,_ he argued as the mental argument raged. _Okay, so maybe I don't have to stay completely away, but I still can't get emotionally involved,_ he bargained with himself. Eventually, he was distracted from his own thoughts when Hermione sighed in her sleep, rolled over – facing away from him this time, and then pulled his arm back closer around her as she whispered, "Doctor." His hearts clenched at both the action and the sound and he couldn't bear to admit – even to himself - that it was already far too late for any of his arguments to be valid. This was further proven when he stayed in bed far longer than necessary - just so he wouldn't disturb his bedmate - who happened to have her arm wrapped around his and both of them tucked up underneath her breasts (a location which he was desperately trying to ignore). In fact, he waited until a deeper sleep had forced her to release her grip on him, before he carefully extracted himself from her soft warmth and from the comfort of her bed. He then went into the galley to prepare some breakfast, hoping that the small act would repay some of her kindness from the day before.

* * *

An hour or so later, she wandered into the room in rumpled pajamas and only half-heartedly tamed hair. At first, he just thought she looked adorable. However, then she smiled at him, and he suddenly realized that he had never seen anything in all of time and space so beautiful and tempting as the young woman before him. In fact, he had to forcibly remind himself of his own internal bargain to prevent himself from closing the distance between them and doing considerably more than just smiling back. Therefore, in order to distract himself from these musings, he put a plate full of food in front of her.

"What's all of this?" she asked with another lovely smile as she looked up at him from the seat that she had taken at the table.

"It's to thank you…for yesterday," he reluctantly admitted. "I'm sor…" he started to say before she interrupted him with a swift shake of her head.

"No! Please don't! A very smart alien, someone of whom I am actually quite fond, once told me that grief was not a weakness. Therefore, your apology is neither wanted nor needed." With these words, he was almost overwhelmed by the sudden emotion that suffused his hearts. _I knew that she would understand!_ he thought, full of gratitude for her. However, she wasn't finished with him, yet! Just then, she winked cheekily at him before continuing. "However, what I think _is_ needed here is an adventure. Therefore, why don't you shut your gob, eat, and then take us somewhere or some _when_ to have one?"

She then laughed merrily at the look of amazement on his face while the TARDIS's hum of amusement also surrounded them. A feeling of mutual affection enveloped them and it was a moment of perfect companionship. For a while, all their feelings of sadness and uncertainty were swept away in its aftermath.


	22. Adventures

They didn't just have one adventure. They ended up having _many_ of them. For the next few weeks, they stayed on the move. They hopped from planet to planet and jumped from time to time – all the while carefully staying away from Earth and avoiding what may or may not be located there. Occasionally, one or the other one of them would get lost in their thoughts of the past and need the comfort of the other to get through the pain. However, for the most part, they tried to keep as busy as possible to distract themselves enough to stay one step ahead of their grief…and from their increasing mutual attraction, as well.

In fact, the Doctor constantly felt his _Don't get too close!_ resolve being tested and, therefore, utilized the sheer number of adventures as a way to try and distance himself emotionally and physically from the beautiful young witch. It didn't seem to help, though, mainly because the bravery, resourcefulness, and compassion that she showed during these adventures time and time again just made him admire her – and want her - all the more. After that one night of weakness, however, the Doctor forced himself to stay away from her room. He found that it was impossible to stay objective about the whole situation when he was snuggled up with the warm and soft sweetness that was Hermione. They still occasionally shared a bed, but Hermione had to be the one to initiate it – she was the one who went to his room - whether it was to seek relief from her own nightmares or to provide comfort for him during his nighttime terrors. He dreaded these nighttime visits – and _not_ because he didn't want her there – quite the opposite, in fact! However, he was powerless to turn her away and always ended up welcoming her with open arms. How could he not? He couldn't deny her comfort when she was suffering! Then there were the nights where he would be pulled out of his own horrible dreams of fire and agony to find himself wrapped in the cocoon of her comfort. Those nights were the worst because it was all that he could do to _not_ express his gratitude and appreciation by pulling her even closer, and showering her body with the adoration that he knew she deserved and that he desperately wanted to show her! In a way, this denial was worse than the nightmares themselves. It may have been torture, however, it was a delicious kind of pain that he didn't want to give up completely. Therefore, he never asked her to stay away.

Hermione was an intelligent woman and it didn't take long for her to figure out that he was trying to keep her at arm's length. He was still friendly and companionable, but Hermione could sense that he was purposely withdrawing from her. Even though she lamented this decision – especially since she could barely contain her attraction for him - she found that she just couldn't blame him. This was especially true since she could feel her strength and endurance returning after every shared excursion with him and during every solitary workout in the gym. Therefore, she knew that their carefree time together like this was rapidly coming to an end – in one way or the other. She knew what she had to do and she knew that it would have to be soon. She rationalized that the Doctor knew this, too, and was trying to make it easier for her ( _Perhaps for him too,_ her heart whispered) by keeping her at a distance and purposely trying to ignore that tentative emotional tie that had been present between them since they had met and had only continued to strengthen since then. Therefore, she tried to honor his decision and to only seek out his nighttime comfort for herself when she _really_ needed it. However, she refused to apply those same conditions to keep herself from comforting him whenever she thought he needed it. She promised herself that she would be there for him whenever he needed her - for as long as they traveled together – and she meant it!

She tried not to dwell on it in the daytime hours by focusing on their amazing travels instead (in her bed at night was a completely different story, however). He made it difficult even then, however. Every trip that they took and every adventure that they shared showed her just how incredible of a man that he really was! She had once accused Harry of having a bit of a "saving people thing," but in reality, that was nothing compared to what the Doctor seemed to do on an almost daily basis. Once or twice they had been lucky enough just to relax and sightsee on their trips. However, most of the time, they were drawn to trouble – just like moths to the flame. Hermione mused that they were both probably a bit jeopardy friendly on their own, but together they just seemed to be outright trouble magnets! How else could you explain the abundance of revolutions, invasions, injustices, and other dangerous situations which they frequently found themselves needing to sort out in order to help the people of almost every planet and/or time period that they visited?

Another aspect of their adventures was that they tended to get on the wrong side of the local law enforcement with some frequency. Hermione liked to point out to the Doctor that she had never really been arrested before she had met him and that now she was running out of fingers on which to count the number of times that it had happened! His reply to this was a very sardonic, "You'll get used to it!" followed by such a disarming grin that Hermione realized that there were far worse things than having to occasionally share a cell with the attractive alien. The first time they were arrested on some ridiculous charge, however, Hermione saw that it took several very large and multi-limbed officers to take the sonic screwdriver away from the Doctor, as well as his leather jacket, before tossing him into a cell. That meant that anything that could have been useful in the transdimensional pockets was also out of their reach. Fortunately, her wand was still up her sleeve and she had the presence of mind to shrink it, disillusion it, and attach it to the palm of her hand with a sticking charm before the guards noticed what she was doing. Therefore, when they also pushed her into the adjoining cell, it was just a matter of waiting until most of the guards had cleared out for the night before she _Accio'd_ the screwdriver and jacket. Then, just a couple of _Alohomoras_ and one _Stupefy_ later, she and the Doctor were running hand in hand to the TARDIS while laughing all of the way. Once there, Doctor pulled her into a big swinging hug, told her that she was "fantastic" and "brilliant," and kissed her on the nose – rather than on the more impersonal forehead region like he usually did. After realizing what he had done, however, he had looked rather embarrassed and backed away –and then immediately changed the subject by suggesting a new adventure. She could only sigh and agree to his plan – when all she really wanted was for him to continue to hold and kiss her! At any rate, after that incident, "wand camouflage" became part of her routine whenever the possibility of arrest seemed imminent.

Also, through the course of these adventures, Hermione started to see a whole new side of her Doctor. From the moment they had met, he had been nothing but kind, affectionate, and generous with the wounded witch whom he had suddenly found in his care. However, since that first meeting in the infirmary, she had also always felt that he had the potential for being very dangerous - if he needed to be. Up to this point, she had not had a reason to see it. Besides the Vandelvorm incident, they had never been in a possibly life-threatening situation – mainly he had just nursed her back to health and they had gotten to know each other while peacefully drifting in the Vortex. Therefore, she had never had the opportunity to see him in the _warrior_ mode of which she knew he was capable. Just like he had never seen her in battle mode – except for in her memories.

All of that changed in one day, however. The Doctor had set the controls for Random since he suspected that the TARDIS would take them wherever she wanted to go, anyway. Consequently, they landed on the planet, China 5, where they quickly realized that the cute Giant Panda-like sentients were _not_ the gentle bamboo eating creatures that they knew from that country of the same name back on planet Earth. This was made quite clear when they were ambushed immediately upon arriving in the jungle. During the ensuing struggle, Hermione lost both her wand and, consequently, her state of consciousness. When she came to, she found that she and the Doctor were both strung up in a bamboo cage to await the beginning of the ceremony where they were to be the guests of honor – in other words…the main course! They were not alone either. On the ground, lining the edge of the clearing, were many other cages filled with scared and crying _children_!

Apparently, the pseudo-pandas were not natives at all, but a recent invading force that had landed on this planet and had assumed the shape of the gentle creatures that they now resembled after wiping out all of the actual ones in order to appease their voracious appetites. Then, they had turned to raiding the nearby villages to replenish their food supply. Apparently the livestock had run out, and on their recent raid, they had taken the children to make up the deficiency. Upon regaining consciousness, Hermione learned all of this from the Doctor - who had been listening in to the conversation of the guards. Even though, he didn't tell her as much, Hermione realized that he had sat with her, holding her hand, and guarding her the entire time, as well. He still had his sonic screwdriver with him, but as the cage was made entirely out of wood, even down to the complex locking mechanism, it had been of no use to him – except for scanning her and reassuring himself that she did not have a concussion.

Therefore, Hermione quickly _Accio'd_ her wand and grimaced at the wide crack that now ran the length of it – no doubt due to being trampled by the heavy footed Panda-like creatures. She found to her relief that it still worked (but for how long?) and after a _Alohomora,_ they were free _._ Then while the Doctor distracted their captors, while the fury flashed in his eyes, by giving them a choice to leave the planet in peace or to suffer the consequences of their actions, she freed the children from their cages. With the help of the older ones, she led the children back to the village and into the grateful embraces of their distraught parents. While waiting for the Doctor, she found out that the adults had been immobilized by the technology of the Panda-like invaders during the raid – and, thus, were unable to save their own offspring.

Upon seeing that part of the jungle ravaged by fire after their departure, however, Hermione tried to rush back to the scene to find her alien friend. She was vastly relieved when he met her halfway. As she dove into his embrace, she asked him what had happened when she left. Even though he gently wrapped his arms around her, his eyes still turned cold when he told her that the invaders had not accepted the offer to leave. She shivered then, not in fear of him - because she knew his anger was not directed towards her - but because of the sheer power that radiated off of him. Some of that power came from his anger because of what they had done to her, she realized, and because of what they had planned to do to those helpless children. Therefore, it was in that moment that she realized what the consequence had been. The Doctor had done what he had needed to do to insure the future safety of those young people. Hermione was immediately horrified– not _because_ of him - but _for_ him. She could feel the power of his despair, as well, and knew that he had taken no pleasure in his actions. Therefore, she tried to show him that she understood what he was going through by pulling his head down to her level and kissing him gently.


	23. Aftermath

All of the Doctor's anger melted away at that simple action, and once he recovered from the oh-so-pleasant shock, he returned her kiss – gently at first but then with an increasing intensity that continued until he had backed her up against a nearby tree. Then the dam broke, and all of the want and need that he had felt for her since they had met then erupted out of him. He pressed his full length firmly against hers and then snogged her with a wild passion that she returned just as enthusiastically. Then, when she let a little moan, his lower regions responded, and his jeans immediately became uncomfortably tight at the sound of her enjoyment. It wasn't until he heard himself echo the sentiment, however, that he suddenly came back to his senses - as reality crashed back down around him. He pulled away from her quickly, breathing heavily - despite his respiratory bypass. It was only then that he noticed just how close he had come to completely losing control and realized that he probably would have already taken her passionately - right against that tree - if they both hadn't been fully clothed!

"I'm…sorry, Hermione," he then mumbled, at seeing her look of surprise and confusion at his sudden withdrawal. When he saw her reach out for him in concern, he panicked and said the first thing that came to his mind. "Adrenaline, you know…after a fight, the sudden rush of hormones…sometimes causes people to…" He then winced as he realized how pathetic of an excuse that seemed.

"Oh…adrenaline...I see," she said quietly as she realized what he was really saying – that he didn't _really_ want her – he had just gotten caught up in the moment. Her hand, the one that had been stretched towards him, suddenly fell uselessly back to her side. She felt the tears well up behind her eyelids and had to busy herself by straightening her clothing while trying to blink the moisture away before he noticed. "Well…I guess…that we need to get back to the TARDIS then. She…will probably be worried about us now," she continued, while doing her best to avoid meeting his eyes. She didn't want to see the pity that she felt sure was present there since she had completely mistaken his intentions after literally throwing herself at him. Then she pulled out her wand and looked sadly at the crack again while muttering the _Point Me_ spell that would help lead them back to their friend and mode of transport.

She quickly headed off in the direction that the wand indicated - without reaching for his hand to hold on the way back to the ship the way that she had always done before. _That_ was when he suddenly realized just how much he probably had hurt her by suggesting that his actions had just been caused by battle-fueled hormones rather than the affection and passion for her that he had been struggling to contain ever since she had appeared in his ship. However, he quickly realized that the damage had already been done. She refused to meet his eyes and he couldn't think of any words to say that would remedy the situation instead of making it worse. Therefore, they walked in silence all the way back to the TARDIS – both with heavy hearts.

As soon as they entered the ship, he headed straight for the console and set the controls to take them into the Vortex. "Dinner?" he then asked gently, his eyes still looking down towards the buttons and levers – without actually seeing them. He had a feeling that he already knew what her answer would be before she even opened her mouth.

"I'm not really hungry," she said quietly – proving him right. "I think that I will get cleaned up and then go on to bed. Good night, Doctor." Then without a backwards glance, so he wouldn't see the tears shining in her eyes, she walked out of the console room. As he watched her go, the Doctor silently cursed his own stupidity, and his helplessness to fix the situation that had been his own doing.

* * *

Hermione barely made it to her room before the tears came. She tossed off her clothes, barely noticing where they landed, as she stumbled into the bathroom. The TARDIS sent her comforting thoughts and feelings as she adjusted the water temperature to one slightly hotter than usual in order to help her friend relax – and then she laid out fresh towels and cozy PJs for her, as well. While Hermione then sobbed in the shower with the water flowing unheeded around her, the ship decided to go and give her other inhabitant a piece of her mechanically sentient mind – especially since she had unashamedly pulled the reason for Hermione's unhappiness straight from the witch's memory.

* * *

She instantly located the Doctor as he tinkered under the console. It was his go-to place and activity when he needed to think – and he definitely needed to think now! Therefore, he didn't expect the electrical shock that the TARDIS sent his way – seemingly out of the blue. He cursed and shot up, banging his head on the bottom of the console in the process. As he emerged from underneath her control panels, shaking the one hand that was still tingling and rubbing the sore spot on his head with the other, she sent him the image of Hermione crying in the shower.

"Oh," he said with sudden understanding as he half-sat, half-collapsed down on the jumpseat. The sight of that dear girl's misery, something that _he_ had caused, wrenched something deep inside of him. She thought that he had rejected her. That beautiful, desirable, kind, gentle, loving woman thought that he didn't want her – when nothing could have been further from the truth. However, he tried to see it from her point of view as he thought back to the events that had happened out there in the jungle. He realized that she had seen his pain over what he had done and was simply trying to reassure him with a kiss. The kiss quickly spiraled out of control, but she had enjoyed it. She had welcomed his passion and met it with her own. She had wanted him! Oh, how just the thought of _that_ threatened to overwhelm him - even now! Being on the receiving end of Hermione Granger's passion had been a spectacular experience - only for him to basically throw it back in her face and blame what they had both felt on nothing more than common hormones _._ She had lost everything, but had come to trust him, care about him – perhaps as even more than a friend - and he had hurt her with what must have seemed like a harsh rejection the very first time since her loss that she had put herself forward and offered all that she had. He hadn't meant it like that at all, but he was sure that was how she had taken it - and now the damage had been done. He could have handled the situation so much better. However, now he was afraid that he had completely ruined any chance of even friendship with that amazing woman – when all he had wanted to do was maintain a little emotional distance. Well, _that_ shouldn't be a problem now, he thought glumly.

He asked the TARDIS what Hermione was doing right at that minute and he was shown the young woman as she laid in bed and hugged her pillow as if it were her only friend – and she probably thought that it truly was – because who knew what she thought about him now and she had lost everyone else except the TARDIS. He then distinctly remembered that she had once told him the TARDIS wasn't able to give very good hugs and, therefore, she had offered him one of her own. His guilt increased even more at that point when he remembered how she had seen his own personal pain so early on and had set out to soothe it. How could he soothe hers – when he was the one who had caused it?

"Damn!" he said aloud and rubbed his face in consternation. "How am I going to fix this without making it seem as if I am just patronizing or pitying her?" However, there was nobody to answer him except the TARDIS and she was no longer acknowledging him. He soon realized, however, that he had plenty of time to think about the situation while sitting on that jumpseat - all night, in fact! The Old Girl had made her displeasure and disappointment with him clear by hiding all of the bedrooms and even the library and its sofa from him.

* * *

The next morning Hermione woke and immediately thought of the wretched events of the previous evening. She flushed with embarrassment when she thought of her own behavior towards the Doctor and suddenly realized that, no matter how much it had hurt her, she couldn't hold anything that had happened against him. She had replayed the scene in her mind a hundred times and finally thought she understood what had happened. A kiss between two lonely people had just gotten a bit out of control and when he realized it, he had tried to step back graciously. It had not worked out quite that way, and his choice of words had been poorly thought out, but she did not think that he had meant to hurt her. She had just taken it a bit too personally – probably due to her recent tragedy and overwhelming need for some personal contact again – not to mention the attraction that she felt for him anyway. However, she had already acknowledged that he had been trying to keep things light between them so that it wouldn't be so hard for them when they inevitably had to part. Therefore, she could not really blame him for not wanting to…well…let things go any further than they had. Seeing him have regrets…afterwards…would certainly have been much worse than this, she rationalized.

Even though it hurt to think about them, too, she also realized that, in order to keep their friendship, she had forgiven both Harry and Ron many times in the past for hurting her feelings. This was true even when they (especially Ron) had done it on purpose. Therefore, _this_ wasn't worth losing the Doctor's friendship over, either – especially since she was now quite sure that he really had not meant it the way that it had felt at the time. She didn't think that _he_ would ever purposely hurt her like that.

She soon realized that she felt better for having made a decision. However, she knew that her next meeting with the Doctor was probably going to be an awkward one. Even so, she may now be a time and space traveler, but she was still a Gryffindor at heart. Gryffindors stood up for what they believed in…and she still believed in the Doctor.


	24. New Problems

"Might as well get it over with…" Hermione thought as she quickly got dressed. Since she now realized that there had been no malice behind the Doctor's words and actions, she also rationalized that there was a distinct possibility that he didn't even know that he had hurt her feelings at all. She had certainly tried her best to hide that fact from him on the previous night, after all. Since Harry and Ron had often seemed quite clueless about her emotional state, as well, that rationale really seemed to be quite likely. _It must be a bloke thing,_ she thought sadly. Therefore, she decided that she would make it as easy as possible for both of them by just ignoring the situation completely. After all, it was over now, and she would just make sure that they didn't end up in that kind of situation again. That way, at worst, he might just feel a little awkward about the kiss ( _That kiss!_ Her knees felt weak at the very thought of how amazing it had been before…well…everything else happened.) She shook her head to clear out her thoughts about that and focused back on her decision. She sincerely hoped that she was correct in thinking that at worst, it would be a little awkward. At best, it would just be like any other day.

Since she had made her decision, she turned to go but quickly grabbed her wand off of the nightstand first. She frowned again at the damage, however, and tried to push down her panic as she wondered what in the world she could do about it. Shoving aside that worry for the moment, she stepped out into the corridor. Once there, she noted that the Doctor's bedroom door was not located next to hers like it usually was. She couldn't help but to wonder what that was about while she headed quickly towards the galley. She found that despite her uneasiness, she was quite hungry – especially since she had missed lunch yesterday and skipped dinner, as well.

* * *

The Doctor had spent a very uncomfortable night – and not just because he was stuck on the console room's small jumpseat. He had later moved to the galley table, anyway – where he was currently located after having drunk several cups of coffee. Plus, he had spent the night in worse places than these before. Therefore, mainly he was uncomfortable because he continued to worry about Hermione and hated the thought that he had hurt her – especially since she had been nothing but kind and caring towards him. He also worried about how their interactions would go today, but after he thought about it…and what he knew about her…he decided that Hermione would probably just pretend that nothing had happened. After all, she had tried to hide her pain from him last night and would probably continue to do the same thing today in order to avoid any awkwardness…and probably to make things easier for him, as well. That just seemed to be the wonderful woman's way.

* * *

As Hermione entered the galley, she paused when she saw that the Doctor was already there – hunched over a mug of what smelled like coffee. She paused to pull up a smile, a small one that it wouldn't seem fake, and strolled in.

"Good morning, Doctor," she said in what she hoped sounded like a casual tone as he spun around to look at her.

His eyes raked over her face and he noted with dismay that her eyes were still a bit swollen from crying. Other than that, though, they seemed clear and besides a few scratches, she didn't seem to be physically injured from their adventures the day before. "Good morning," he said carefully, and his voice sounded a little too uncertain for his liking.

"Coffee?" she asked, just a bit confused as she tried to ignore his scrutiny. She had seen him drink coffee a couple of times before, but tea was his usual morning beverage of choice.

"Couldn't sleep," he muttered, still looking at her as his eyes came to rest on her lips. Those soft warm lips that had tangled so passionately with his…He forced those thoughts away. "Would you like some?"

She thought about it for a moment before declining. "No, thank you," she said politely and she started to walk across the galley away from him. "I think that I will stick to the comfort of tea this morning." She then froze as she realized what she had just said, hoping against hope that he didn't read anything into it. However, he didn't say or do anything, so she tried to release some of the uncomfortable tension that had built up in her shoulders as she continued her way across the room. As she suspected, their interactions were quite stiff and awkward this morning because of that kiss, but at least he didn't seem to realize that anything else was amiss. _Thank Merlin for that_ , she thought, grateful to be spared _that_ embarrassment - for both of them! Just then, though, a steaming cup appeared at her spot at the galley table, followed by a tray complete with a traditional English breakfast – perfectly portioned for one person!

"Oh, thank you, TARDIS dear. You shouldn't have!" she cried out in delight as a genuine smile appeared on her face this time - just as his ship privately sent the Doctor the equivalent of a big mental raspberry!

Of course, the kindhearted woman then offered to share with her breakfast companion, but he declined. He knew that the TARDIS was trying to make her feel special. His guilt roiled again, however, as he realized that was what he should have done – especially since he had been correct in his assumption that the little witch had decided to pretend that nothing was wrong. Even though he didn't deserve to get off so easily, he went along with it - in order not to embarrass her. He couldn't get the image of her crying in the shower out of his mind, though, and he was determined to find some way to make it up to her. Maybe he could take her somewhere special? Maybe he should ask?

"What would you like to do today?"

Hermione's head shot up at the question and her eyes accidently met his for an instant. She immediately dropped them back down to her plate and tried to speak normally.

"I'm afraid that I need to see if I can repair my wand. I'm not sure that it is going to be possible, though. Unfortunately, I don't know very much wandless magic and wandmaking is a highly specialized profession in the wizarding world." She tried to tamp down her fear at the thought of losing her ability to perform magic as she pulled the wand out of her sleeve and laid it on the table in front of her in order to show him the damage.

The Doctor glanced at her for permission, and at her nod, he picked it up and ran a finger down the crack. Hermione grimaced as she saw that the fissure was even wider now than it had been last night. The Doctor saw the small gesture of unhappiness and wished that he could help, but unfortunately he just didn't have a magic wand repair setting on his sonic. It couldn't hurt to get some information from the witch, though. Maybe it would help her to recall something useful that could aid in its repair. Therefore, he asked her, "What can you tell me about how wands are made? Are they all the same or are they specific to each witch or wizard?"

Hermione took small bites of her breakfast and tried to ignore both the pit of fear settling in her stomach over her damaged wand, and the unease that she now felt with the Doctor as she steadily avoided meeting his gaze while they spoke. However, she still told him about the common wood and core combinations used in the wand making process, how she visited Ollivanders when she was eleven, and how the wand really chose the witch or wizard - and not the other way around. She also explained to him that a witch could use someone else's wand, but that it would never work as well as her own would. Then she revealed how she lost her first precious vinewood one when she was captured, how she went on to _acquire_ Bellatrix's after her torture, and how she struggled constantly when using it since her own magic wasn't really compatible with that wand's power. Therefore, as soon as she could, she switched it out on the battlefield when she had found her current wand laying in the bloodstained grass. She didn't even know who the previous owner had been, but it seemed to work decently for her, anyway. Then she choked up a bit as she recalled picking up a few of the wands of her fallen friends – an action which the Doctor now remembered seeing in her memories, as well.

At that recollection, Hermione quickly picked up her head as she _finally_ remembered exactly what his transdimensional pockets had reminded her of on the day of the Vandelvorm incident. How could she possibly have forgotten about her little beaded bag with the expansion charm? She could only guess that it had been due to the combination of the trauma of her injuries and her overwhelming grief. Now that she had finally thought about it, the last time she remembered having the bag was on the battlefield when she had picked up George's wand – after she had made absolutely sure that he wouldn't need it again - with the intention of giving it back to the Weasley family afterwards. She had put it in the bag, but _afterwards_ had never happened. She couldn't quite remember what had happened to the bag, either. Did she manage to shrink it and stow it in her pocket or had it been lost in her desperate dash to the Forbidden Forest. She tried not to get her hopes up, but she had to be sure…

"Doctor?" she all but whispered…and for the first time that morning she purposely looked at him directly in the eye.

"What is it, Hermione?" he asked, suddenly concerned, and out of habit reached for her hand. After the events of the previously night, however, she was suddenly uncomfortable with the thought of being touched by him – especially since she now knew that he really wanted to maintain his distance. Therefore, she tried to make it easier on them both by quickly sliding her hand off of the table in order to place it in her lap instead. He resisted the urge to sigh as his mind registered this maneuver and knew what it meant. It was his own fault, after all, that there was now apparently a barrier between them. It was a polite, friendly wall – but it was still a wall, nonetheless.

"Doctor," she said again and his eyes and attention snapped back to her face. "What happened to the clothes that I was wearing when I arrived here? I know that you must have removed them because I woke up in my underwear." She said this with downcast eyes again because, due to the recent events, this thought was now quite embarrassing to her, even though it had not bothered her before now. She tried to shake off the feeling, however. _I can't keep acting like this! I am a Gryffindor, remember? I survived a war that took everyone I knew and loved. So what if he didn't want to kiss me? Big deal! How can that possibly compare?_ she thought forcefully. She then realized the absolute truth of that statement, squared her shoulders, and forced herself to meet his eyes again.

The Doctor watched her obviously struggling to get a grip on her insecurity. It had not been present before the events in the jungle yesterday. In fact, she had often surprised him with her admittedly hard won self-assurance. Therefore, he knew very well what had caused her to fall into that particular emotional trap. Just as he was about to say something…anything…to let her know that _she_ was not the problem here, Hermione suddenly looked up, straight into his eyes, with a determined gaze. He felt a sudden surge of pride knowing that she had just decided that she wasn't going to let anything keep her down. _Not even me_ , he thought ruefully. Then, he suddenly realized what she had asked him, and had to clear his throat as he thought about how he had undressed her that day. He had been concerned, but was able to be quite detached and clinical about the process since she had been a stranger to him at the time. However, if he had to undress her now… A surge of longing rushed through him at that thought, as well as quite a bit of regret since he knew that he would be lucky if she ever let him hold her hand again – much less anything else! Apparently he had zoned out a little too long, because soon the young woman's concerned voice broke into his thoughts.

"Doctor," she said, her eyes now purposely meeting his and then scanning his face for any signs of problems that may have been caused by leftovers from the stresses of the previous day. "Are you alright?"

Her gentle concern rocked the Doctor! _She is worried about me!_ he thought with a great deal of surprise. _Even after I hurt her and made her cry, she is still concerned about me!_

"I'm…fine," he answered slowly, pleased with this proof that she was trying not to hold his thoughtlessness against him. "Just busy thinking…the TARDIS must have put your things into storage – just in case…but I don't remember seeing anything like that beaded bag with them."

"That's okay," she said, fully prepared to accept that fact, but she still needed to know for sure! "However, I would still like to have them."

The Doctor nodded in understanding and the TARDIS sent feelings of comfort to Hermione as a small pile of clothes suddenly appeared on the table in front of her – in the same spot that her breakfast dishes had been just a moment before. The clothes were clean and folded, but they were obviously tattered, right down to the boots that were sitting on top of the pile. Tears immediately sprang to Hermione's eyes as she remembered the last time that she had worn them – the day that she had lost…everything. She fought to hold the tears back, though, and the Doctor kept a close eye on her – unsure about how to reach out to her now since he had messed everything up between them – but wanting to be there for her, anyway. Therefore, he just watched her carefully as she reached first into the pockets of the jeans and then moved on to the pockets of the jacket. Both times she came up empty and she tried, but failed to hold back her sob of disappointment. She stood up and went to rush out of the room, but at the last minute he also stood and intercepted her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as she cried. At first, she leaned into his embrace, as usual, and allowed him to comfort her. However, after a moment she seemed to remember where she was and she quickly pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she said as she took a step away from him and wiped her eyes while he once again cursed his rash behavior of the evening before. "It's just that…well…there is no way that I am going to be able to mend that wand…not without another one. I just don't have the skill. Now, I'm going to lose most of my magic. I have already lost everything else." The last was said in a whisper of despair that caused his hearts to clench with sorrow for his friend. He ached to reach out to her, but he was afraid that she would just move away again. Therefore, he just watched her as she gathered her old clothes up. All of a sudden, she stopped and grabbed the hooded jumper. "I forgot that this had pockets!" she exclaimed. She pushed her hand into one side and then, with more desperation, into the other one. This time her hand didn't come out empty. The Doctor saw that she was holding a miniature version of the beaded bag. "Oh, thank Merlin!" she cried out joyously. The Doctor continued to watch curiously while she grabbed the cracked wand and carefully waved it over the little bag. " _Engorgio_ ," she all but shouted and he watched in amazement as the bag grew in size.


	25. The Contents of the Bag

The little bag grew in size, but the Doctor couldn't help but notice that it was still quite small. In fact, he looked at it so quizzically that Hermione couldn't help but to laugh at him - and his expression - just a little bit.

"Oh, Doctor!" she said, her eyes now sparkling with mirth – most of the earlier awkwardness having seemingly dissipated sometime between her earlier grief and the joy caused by the little bag's reappearance. "You of all people should realize that sometimes things can be bigger on the inside." With those intriguing words, he watched in amazement as she proceeded to mutter a spell to open the little bag, stick her arm into it almost up to the shoulder, fish around for a moment, and withdraw victoriously with a handful of wands. The smile slid off of her face, though, and was replaced with a look of immense pain, as she looked at the three wands in her hand and remembered who was no longer going to need them.

The first one, with the carved crisscross patterned handle, had belonged to George. She gave it a little swish and flick, felt just a slight bit of resistance as she muttered _Wingardium Leviosa,_ and thenwatched as the Doctor's now empty coffee mug floated through the air. It then started spinning and swaying –in a kind of dance– before doing a backflip and coming back to rest on the table. "Thank you, George!" she whispered, grateful that she now had at least one usable wand – it wouldn't be perfect, but it would do in a pinch if she needed it. She then laid that wand down and picked up the next one. It had been Luna's – quirky little Luna, whom everyone had long underestimated, but who had proven her friendship time and time again. Hermione had found the wand lying next to her friend's limp hand and had scooped it up – not wanting anyone else to get it since she knew how much Luna had loved it. She needed to test it out now, so Hermione gave the delicate tulip-handled wand a little flick and couldn't help but to let out a choked little sound that was half-sob and half-giggle as a huge pot of moonflowers appeared in the middle of the table - especially since she had only been aiming to conjure a small bud vase with one flower. Therefore, this delicate little wand was obviously more powerful than it looked – just like its owner had been. Hermione then set that wand to the side momentarily, as well, but thought that it would probably be the one that she would use on a daily basis since it seemed to be quite compatible with her own magic.

She still had to try the last one, however, even though she was reluctant to do so. She clearly remembered the moment that Professor McGonagall had turned to her in the final seconds of her life and had handed it to her with a desperate look in her eyes right before she hit the ground and didn't move again. The minute Hermione picked it up by itself to test it, though, she felt its magic swirl around her and embrace her, much like her very first wand had done that day in Ollivanders. She then looked closely at the obviously older wand in her hand and wondered if it could possibly be the Professor's original one. She then felt that odd little half-happy, half-sad sound rise in her throat again as she realized that the shape of it strongly reminded her of the spindles of the staircase in her childhood home. However, there was no doubt this was the wand that she would use – especially after she gave it a just a little wave and with just a murmured housekeeping incantation, the surrounding galley suddenly sparkled with cleanliness – and several new tartan dishtowels appeared on the counter along with a rug in the same pattern on the floor. The Doctor, from the other side of the room, just looked at them in complete bewilderment for a moment. However, that confusion turned into understanding when Hermione let out a little giggle which turned into a sad sigh. "Oh, Professor McGonagall," she said softly. Before this little experiment, she had never realized that wands absorbed some of the personality of their owners. That would certainly explain why she had experienced so much difficulty with the one she had taken from Bellatrix! That caused her to smile faintly with the irony of it all – right before she burst into tears again.

The Doctor stood in the doorway where Hermione had left him standing after he had attempted to comfort her. He leaned against the doorframe as he watched her test each wand. He had a clear view of all of the events – astonishing as they were - and of all the emotions that flickered across her face during the process. He realized what an emotional rollercoaster that she was experiencing – especially after what had already transpired between the two of them. He thought that it was probably too much for her to deal with all at one time. Therefore, he was half expecting her inevitable breakdown when it finally occurred. Just as he was trying to determine whether she would allow him to comfort her, though, he was amazed to see her forcibly pull herself together and wipe her eyes on her sleeve. He then clearly heard her when she muttered, "Enough of that nonsense. There's work to do. I can grieve later!" Then she finally remembered that she was not alone and looked up sheepishly, right into his eyes. He gave her a proud smile and she nodded back with a small smile of her own.

Then he watched as her attention returned to the wands on the table. She picked up the one that had worked best for her. It was the one that made him think of an old fashioned table leg, and with just one wave and one word, _Reparo,_ she proceeded to mend the broken wand. It was over in just a moment, and her sigh of relief was tangible. "The situation is no longer critical," she looked up and told him with a little upturn on her lips. "I now have one very compatible wand, two perfectly usable ones, and then a weaker back-up one in case of emergencies. Now that I have my little bag back, I will keep a second wand with me at all times – just in case. In fact, I am going to insist that you carry one in your "weird alien pocket," from now on, as well! Then I will leave the last one here in my room on the TARDIS. That way we will always be prepared. We were quite lucky yesterday, but I don't want to take that chance again. Both of our lives – as well as those of all of the people that we help - are just too important for that!"

The surge of pride that the Doctor felt at those words made him forget his cautious behavior towards her and he strode across the galley to hug her. He was so relieved when she allowed it without pulling away, that he gathered up the courage to mutter a sincere "I'm so sorry!" into her hair. He wasn't positive that she had heard him until she momentarily froze before she returned his hug with a tender one of her own. Just then he knew that their friendship, at the very least, was going to be alright.

Then without another word about that situation, Hermione pulled gently away, patted his cheek with affection (she _knew_ that he had not meant to hurt her) and then turned back to her bag on the table. "I need to see what else is in there," she told him and he nodded in understanding. "There will probably be more tears," she warned him. He nodded again. "You don't have to stay – or I could take it back to my room," she offered. He shook his head in the negative at this one and reinforced the sentiment with another hug and the offer of more tea. She gratefully accepted both and while he was making the tea, she tentatively reached into the bag again and started to pull out the leftover items one by one.

* * *

Her sheer cry of joy caused him to spin around. He then grinned as widely as she did when he saw her pull a book from the bag and hug it to her chest. "My favorite!" she exclaimed in explanation and turned it around so that he could see the title: _Hogwarts: A History._ He then watched as several more books followed that one: _Spellman's Syllabary, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, Secrets of the Darkest Art_ (She shuddered when she laid this one on the table), _Tales of Beedle the Bard_ , and finally an odd looking, fur-covered book secured with a belt – _The Monster Book of Monsters._

"Are those teeth?" The Doctor asked incredulously, pointing to the last book. Despite the tears that sprang to her eyes at the bittersweet memory of Hagrid picking out the book because he thought that it was "funny," Hermione was also able to smile at her companion's tone. She then proceeded to tell him the story behind each of the books and even graciously agreed to his eager request to borrow them. He had been so generous with sharing his own books with her…and she was pleased that he wanted to know more about her world – especially since she was going to have to go…

She purposely derailed that train of thought for the time being as she continued to dig through the bag and pulled out a few random odds and ends such as a few wizarding knuts, a broken quill, and a WANTED poster declaring her as Undesirable No. 2. She passed that last one over to the Doctor without even looking at it while she continued sorting.

"You were hunted?" the Doctor asked so quietly that Hermione would never had known how angry he was after reading it – if she had not looked up to see that same fury in his eyes that he had expressed before destroying the pseudo-Panda invaders on the previous day. However, she really didn't want to get into a discussion about that year on the run right now. Thanks to the Doctor and the equipment on the TARDIS, her physical scars had faded. However, the emotional ones were still there and they continued to haunt her through her nightmares. Therefore, she just nodded quickly and then was immediately distracted when she pulled a dress out of her bag.

She realized immediately that it was the dress that she had worn to Bill and Fleur's wedding and simultaneously both teared up and blushed when she noticed that a familiar scent of cologne still clung faintly to it. She had worn this dress the last time that she and Viktor had…well…been _together_. They had sneaked away from the reception for a little alone time and a chance to say good-bye and had just returned to it right before the Death Eater attack. Even though he only knew a small part of her plans, Viktor had helped her to find Harry and Ron, and then joined the fight in order to give them a chance to escape. She didn't even know that he had died that day until Bill told her when they had sought refuge at Shell Cottage after the ordeal at Malfoy Manor. Hermione had been recovering from her torture and its aftereffects and had not had the chance to mourn her first and only lover properly - even though she had also considered him to be one of her closest friends - ever since the events of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Hermione couldn't help but to smile gently through her tears as she thought about the fact that she had been the one who had pursued their physical relationship the next time that they had met after the tournament - especially since Viktor had always been a perfect gentleman around her. The resulting experience had been very warm and pleasant, however, and she would always remember it fondly. Unfortunately, the opportunity to be together had only occurred a couple of times after that since they had not been able to see each other very often due to the sheer distance involved and the wide-ranging effects of the war. She knew that she had not loved Viktor in a romantic sense, but Hermione was very glad _now_ that she had seized the chance to be with him _then_. She then sighed quietly, refolded the dress, and set it to the side. It was only then that she realized that the Doctor had been watching her as she reminisced. She had nothing to be ashamed about, however, so she only gave a small nod and sad smile when he had quirked a questioning eyebrow at her.

* * *

After the Doctor delivered her tea, he had sat back in his chair and watched her closely. Her apparent forgiveness for the unintentional hurt of the previous evening was a vast relief to him, but he knew that he would still try to find a way to make it up to her. This was especially true after he had seen the Wanted poster. He knew that she had been captured and tortured, but the news that the young woman had been actively hunted concerned him more than he could say. Then she had pulled out that dress and his thoughts had gone in a completely different direction. Through his observations (the tears, the blush, and the very faint smell of cologne), he immediately guessed some of the story behind it and had to force himself to tamp down on the resulting surge of jealousy at the knowledge that she had once had a lover. After all, she was a beautiful, amazing, and desirable woman. Even if he had pushed her away on the previous evening, it didn't mean that every other man had been stupid enough to do so. Dispelling those negative thoughts from his mind, however, he then forced himself to focus back on her when he saw an odd look cross her face as she reached into the bag again and pulled out a portrait frame.

With wide eyes, Hermione held the empty portrait frame with the blank canvas in her hands. "Headmaster Black," she whispered and appeared to pause a moment before continuing. "I would like to talk to you, Phineas Black, sir," she said in a louder voice this time. When there was still no answer, she all but yelled in desperation, "Former Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black, please come to speak with me!" When there was still no answer, the tears overwhelmed her and she turned to the Doctor. "He's not answering," she exclaimed in despair. "Is it because we are in the Vortex or because he is not there anymore? Why would he not be there?"

After he was able to get her to calm down enough to explain the portrait's ability to move from frame to frame and deliver messages, his face grew even more serious than ever. "Hermione," he said softly. "We need to talk. There is something that I have to tell you."


	26. The Hypothesis

_**Author's Note:**_ _I know that it has been way too long since the last update, but please forgive me! It won't happen again! ;) I estimate that there are only two chapters left...and they are mostly written already. Therefore, this story should be wrapped up soon. Thank you so much for your patience!_

* * *

The Doctor insisted that they move to the library for the conversation because he knew that it would be a long and intense one…and he wanted her to be as comfortable as possible. He was grateful that she allowed him to hold her hand on the way there and he guided her to the sofa immediately upon their arrival while the ship provided tea. He tried to ignore the look of near panic that was still present in her eyes because he knew that what he was about to say could conceivably make that worse. However, it was time for her to know. Therefore, without preamble, he sank into the chair facing her, and then launched right into the explanation of what he _suspected_ had happened that day to bring her to the TARDIS.

Hermione sat quietly and listened to him without interruption. As soon as he finished his explanation, he noticed that, surprisingly, the panic was gone from her eyes and that she looked calm, almost resigned. She then asked for clarification in a very reasonable manner. "You think that I might be from an alternate or parallel universe and that the force from all of those opposing spells at the same time, in addition to the momentum of my apparation, somehow pushed me across the Void between universes - which would also explain why I was unconscious for a while when I arrived?" The Doctor was relieved that she appeared to be taking it so well, but he realized that the full implication of what such a situation really meant may not have completely sunk in for her yet. Therefore, he simply nodded and waited to see what else she might want to say.

She sat there, presumably lost in thought for few minutes, before speaking again. "I assume that this is why we have not been back to Earth, then. You didn't want to test out this theory – before I was physically and emotionally ready." He nodded again, still amazed at her calm demeanor. She continued in a thoughtful tone as her eyes gazed off into the distance. "You know so much about almost every species – and yet you have never once mentioned one that utilizes magic. Even though you know about so many planets, during all of traveling that we have done for the last few weeks, you have not once taken me to a place where magic is used. That seems like something that you would want to show a witch, doesn't it, especially one who was recently freaking out about not having a replacement for her magic wand? Wouldn't you just take her to a marketplace in one of those places to get one?" She sighed heavily as she came to a very reasonable, although heartbreaking, deduction. She slowly brought her attention back to him as her warm brown eyes met his cool blue ones. "There is no magic anywhere in this universe, is there?" she asked, with a kind of tired resignation present in both her voice and eyes.

The Doctor marveled again that Hermione could jump to such reasoning so quickly However, he knew that what he was about to say would hurt her. That was the last thing that he wanted to do again, but she had to know the truth. Therefore, he shook his head slowly. "No, I am afraid that there is not – at least not as far as I can tell. However, since I don't have magic myself, it is _possible_ that I have missed something."

This time she was the one who nodded her head and then looked down at the floor. "Possible, but not likely, correct? Therefore, I guess there is only one way to find out for sure," she murmured thickly. "We will have to go back to Earth – to England, specifically. I will have to visit some of the places that I know are magical. It's the only way. She slowly looked up into his eyes again. "Either way, this is not going to be a happy ending, is it? I will either be walking back into a situation where I am now Undesirable No. 1 (since they don't know exactly how or why I disappeared) or alternately into the knowledge that not only are my friends and family dead, but that my whole world is gone, too."

Against his will, the Doctor flinched at those words and found that his composure was also threatened. This whole situation was coming unbelievably close to his own secret pain for this conversation to be comfortable – for either one of them. Consequently, he found that he couldn't speak at that moment, so he just nodded again, instead. Hermione looked at him and sighed. "Thank you for finally telling me this, Doctor. I almost wish that I could be angry at you for holding this information back, but I find that I am just too bloody reasonable to not understand why you did it. You were trying to protect me for something that I just wasn't ready for." She reached over and patted his hand, almost absentmindedly. It was easy to see that her thoughts were mainly elsewhere – even when she started to speak again.

"I've been trying to prepare myself, both physically and mentally for going back, you know. I was too weak…too fragile…at first. However, on some level I must have known because something kept holding me back – something other than the fact that I didn't really want to leave you and the TARDIS." At this admission, the Doctor felt his hearts clench at the knowledge that he didn't really want her to leave, either. He could also feel the wave of affection that his ship sent to their dear friend, as well. He knew that Hermione could feel it too when she gave a small tight lipped smile and closed her eyes for just a moment to communicate back with her. He wasn't prepared for the determined look that blazed from them when she reopened them, however.

"I'm going to go to my room now. I think I need to be alone for a little while to get my head wrapped around this. However, there is no reason to put this off. Waiting isn't going to change things. Therefore, when I come back out…" here her clear confident voice wavered for the first time. "Then…will…you…" she paused to keep herself from falling apart. Once she had taken a couple of deep breaths and the Doctor had reached over to take her hand, she continued. "Will you take me back to Earth? I have to know…for certain…one way or the other." The last part was said in a whisper so low that he barely heard it. There was only one way that he could answer her, though.

"I will do anything you need, Dear Girl!"

"Thank you," she answered. Then she squeezed his hand, rose from the sofa, and left the room without a backwards glance.

The Doctor let her go, knowing that nothing would prepare her for what they would do next. However, he understood that she had to try. In addition to all of that, he still felt extremely guilty about the events of the previous evening when he had inadvertently stacked even more mental stress on the fragile witch's shoulders. Accordingly, he would give her as much time as he needed.

* * *

The Doctor tried to busy himself with TARDIS repairs while he waited for Hermione. However, his concern for her, his continued guilt over the kiss and its aftermath, and his own unresolved feelings for the lovely young woman continued to distract him, so he really was not able to accomplish much. A couple of hours later, however, he pushed himself out from under the console to find the jumpseat occupied. _How does she sneak up on me like that?_ he wondered to himself as he watched the young woman who just looked back at him with bleary eyes.

"Hermione…" he started to say, but she shook her head and started to speak herself.

"I can't apparate," she simply stated.

"What?" he asked, feeling a bit confused as he pulled himself up to his feet to stand before her.

"Apparate – magical travel – instantaneous transportation from one location to the other; I can't seem to do it anymore." Hermione explained. "First of all, I apparently forgot all about it – just like I did my little beaded bag. I don't even know how that happened. How do I just forget something that has comes as easily and naturally as breathing does to me? However, I must have forgotten – or repressed the memory. Why else would I have not just apparated the two of us across the Vandelvorms' slime trail, or out of the bamboo cage, or out of any of the numerous jail cells that we have been in? When I realized that I haven't apparated since I arrived here, I tried to do it. I tried to jump to other parts of the TARDIS…but it didn't work. However, all of the other magic that I have tried does. I just…don't…understand." This last statement was said so sadly that the Doctor did not even stop to think about it. He just stepped closer and folded her in his arms…and was grateful when she did not move away.

She did look up at him, however, as she spoke. "You said that crossing the Void was a traumatic experience. If that was what really happened to me, do you think it could have caused me to lose some of my powers…and perhaps cause some memory loss, as well?"

"Yes, that sounds Iikely," he said hesitantly, even though he was becoming more and more certain that the scenario that she just described was exactly what happened. However, he couldn't deny the _possibility_ of other explanations, as well – especially when she murmured again.

"However, I was also hit with several simultaneous and dangerous spells right before I apparated. In fact, that combination could have…should have…caused plenty of damage, too. It's a miracle that they did not kill me! Therefore, one could assume that power and memory loss would be a reasonable result of that attack, as well."

"That is also possible," he admitted.

"I have to know the truth...so I know what I have to do!" she responded firmly and she took a jagged breath as the look in her eye turned steely and determined. "Let's go to Earth."


End file.
